The Bet
by Quitting Time
Summary: Jade and Tori make a bet to see if they can stay out of each others business. Can the frenemies really stay out of each other's business? A Jori story based on a idea sent to me By Invader Johnny who also helped write it. Rated T for now but that probably will change in later chapters.
1. My Business

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me. **

**The Bet **

**Chapter 1 – My business.**

**No ones. POV.**

"Jesus Vega, can you ever keep you nose out of my business?" Snapped Jade, with an unusually hard edge to her voice.

Tori huffed. "I'm just trying to be a friend here. Beck asked me what I thought was bugging you and I told him. I thought if I could help him understand, it would help things between you two. I was just telling him what I've managed to figure out."

"Well I don't need your help!" Screamed Jade as her temper suddenly exploded. "And I don't need you friendship. I never asked for any of it and I don't want it. JUST STAY OUT OF MY FUCKING BUSINESS."

Tori stepped back as she bore the full brunt of Jades outburst. All she wanted to do is help. Something had been eating at Jade but, no one could figure it out. Tori had thought it related to a very poor grade Jade had gotten recently on a project for her scriptwriting class. All Tori was trying to do was be a friend and Jade's constant rejection of her and friendship was really beginning to hurt.

"But Jade I was just…" Tori started to say before she was abruptly cut off.

"You know Vega. I just wish you could just stay out of my business and leave me alone for just a month. At least I could have time to think." Jade barked.

"A month?" Said Tori with an unreadable expression.

"Yes a month, and I'll bet you can't."

Tori thought for moment. "OK Jade, who oddly seems to come to me for help even though she says she never wants it, how much do you want to bet?"

Jade looked at Tori intently. "You want to make a bet Vega?"

"Yes Jade, I'll bet you that I can leave you alone and stay out of your business. Have nothing to do with you at all. For one month. If I manage to stay out of your business than I win. If you come to me for help or associate with me, than I win."

Jade narrowed her eyes and studied Tori's face. "Loser is the winners slave for one week. Meaning they do what ever the winner tells them. No objections, no refusals."

"Deal" Tori said extending her hand.

Jade was surprised that Tori actually had the balls to take the bet. But she shook the Latina's hand and smirked.

Jade smirked. "When I win, I'm going to humiliate you so badly you're going to have no choice but drop out. I could just order you to drop out but that wouldn't be fun at all. I'm going to slowly grind you down Vega, till there's nothing left."

Tori stood there stone faced for a moment. "Let's say we start today at 5 PM and we run the bet through Friday the 17th at 5 PM. One month from today."

Jade nodded. "Sounds good. We'll let everyone know in Sikowitz's class next hour. They can tell if anyone's stepped over the line.

"Fine."

The next hour Jade and Tori strode into Sikowitz's class and Jade made an announcement. "Vega and I have a bet, Each of us is to completely stay out of the others business. Which means we can't speak to each other or have anything to do with each other. It starts at 5 pm today and runs to the same time on the 17th of next month."

"Why?" Robbie asked.

"Cause Vega's always sticking her nose where it doesn't belong and I don't think she can keep her hers out of my business." Jade said bitterly.

"And Jade, who never wants to be my friend, is always coming to me for help when she needs it. So that's our bet. So in order for this to work, if you guys plan something your going to have to include only one of us or none of us." Tori answered.

Sikowitz who was standing in the corner, seemed to be watching things with interest. "I'll even play along and in the sprit of the bet, I'll see to it that Tori and Jade are not made to work together in my class."

"Why are you playing along?" Asked Robbie.

Sikowitz chuckled. "It will be interesting to see who cracks first."

Andre grinned and held up a 20. "Hey Beck, how about you and I make a little side bet. I say Jade cracks." Andre paused for a moment and grinned a bit wider. "Unless you're going to bet against your girlfriend."

Beck paused for a moment as if he were thinking about it. That earned him a particularly nasty stare from a very annoyed looking Jade. "I'll take your bet. I say Tori cracks."

At that point Tori gave him a nasty look.

Andre laughed. "Looks like you can't win man."

Sikowitz began to speak, beginning the class, saving Beck from having to say anything else.

As class was letting out, Andre caught Tori in the hallway.

"Hey Chica, what do you hope to accomplish with this bet?"

Tori shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just tired of her always coming to me for help but refusing to let me be her friend. It's like she can't admit she wants to be my friend. I don't know. She just said I'll bet you can't stay out of my business for a month and I took the bet."

Andre thought. "What's the stakes, you never said in class?"

"Looser has to be the winners slave for a week. Nothing can be refused."

Andre scratched the back of his head as he continued to walk with Tori. "You realize that Jade will utterly humiliate you if you're her slave."

"She said pretty much that. So much so that I would leave school."

"Good Luck!"

"Why do you say that? I can stay away from Jade for a month."

Andre decided to not say what he was thinking. That Tori seemed to have an almost desperate need for Jade to be her friend. So he just said. "I was just wishing you good luck. That's all."

The rest of the day went normally. Jade seemed to have a bit of extra strut in her step and a confident look on her face as the day progressed. It was obvious, that she was sure she was going to win.

Tori was quietly confident. She had gotten home a bit after 4 and promptly started her homework. It was almost 5 when her phone rang. Tori could see it was Jade on the caller id.

Tori felt her heart flutter for a brief moment. It was that same odd flutter she always felt at that first moment when she realized Jade was paying attention to her for some reason.

Answering the phone, Tori said a cautious hello.

"You're going to loose Vega." Jade said in mocking, almost cruel tone of voice before the line went dead.

Tori then looked at the lock. It was 5 PM and the bet had officially started. All Tori could do was sigh and get back to her homework.

After she finished an hour later she put her pen down and pondered the consequences of the bet. Jade had made it abundantly clear what she'd do is if she won, but Tori realized what she would do if she won.

Tori laughed at the prospect of making Jade come to school in a pink sundress. Other than the absurd ideas, the only serious one she could think of would be to treat me like a friend for a week. It seemed like a simple enough request.

"So what's with this bet, I heard about today. I forgot to ask you in the car when we went home." Trina said as she leaned up against the door frame.

"It's just a silly bet, she doesn't think I can stay out of her hair. I don't think she can avoid coming to me for help for something or another. Loser has to be the winners slave for a week." Tori explained.

Trina just shook her head and rolled her eyes as she left without saying a word.

The rest of the night went in a rather mundane fashion. As it neared 11 PM, Tori couldn't help but wonder what the Goth was doing at that moment. Was she writing some story of dark revenge, sacrificing a puppy to some ancient god or just watching the scissoring for the 200th time.

Anyway she thought about it, Jade was one of the most unique, original and unique people she knew. A thousand mysteries lurked behind those blue green eyes, but Tori just forced it out of her mind and got up to get ready for bed.

**This story is based on an idea by Invader Johnny. He also helped to write it as he provided number of excellent suggestions and comments. This is my first real collaboration with another person. What do you all think so far?**

**I hope everyone enjoys this story. This will be a more standard Jori story than my last one. "Where's Tori." It will have its share of laughs, angst, not to mention twists and turns. **


	2. Just another day?

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 2 – Just another day?**

**No one's pov**

The next day was the first full day of the bet. It started like pretty much every day in the Vega household, with Trina hogging the bathroom. As always Tori worked around Trina's refusal to leave the bathroom until her makeup was done just right.

It wasn't until the car ride to school that Trina spoke about the bet. "At least you don't have to worry about freak show giving you any grief for a month."

"Yeah" Tori said half heartedly.

"What's up with you?" Snapped Trina as she turned a corner. "You're free of Jade for a full month and you look like you're going to funeral. I don't get you."

Tori lightly sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. "I only wanted her to be her friend."

Trina laughed. "Friend's, Jade doesn't have any friends. Not counting the voices in her head. She's a whack a doo. You're wasting your time, sis. Just enjoy your Jade free vacation."

Tori glared at her sister. "She's not that bad."

"Not that bad, that's like saying Jack the Ripper was socially mal adjusted." The older Vega said quickly.

Tori not wanting to have this conversation, Tori took the moment to turn up the radio as if the song that was playing was one she really liked.

Trina let the conversation drop. She knew Tori had always wanted to be friends with everyone, ever since she was a little girl. But Trina couldn't figure out why Tori would waste her time trying to get on the good side of Jade West. Especially considering, that Trina was fairly certain that Jade didn't have a good side.

A few minutes later, the Vega sisters were pulling into the parking lot of Hollywood Arts. Tori as they pulled up scanned the lot for Jade West, but didn't see the ill tempered Goth.

As they got out of the car and walked, Trina shot her sister a smile. "Remember Tori, You're on Vacation. Besides you win this thing you can have her paint my toenails."

Tori let out a chuckle. "You can't stand Jade. Why on earth would you want her to paint your toenails?"

"Because it's the closest that I'd get to having her grovel at my feet, that I'd ever get and it would drive her totally buggo at the same time."

Tori narrowed her eyes. "So in other words, you want me to win this so you can torture Jade."

Trina nodded. "Someone's got to do it. You certainly won't."

At this point they crossed into the school, where none other than Jade and Beck were arguing just inside the doorway.

Trina suddenly smirked and said loudly to Tori. "Hey you know what. If you win, you can order Jade to order her boyfriend to go out with me."

Tori's mouth suddenly fell open in shock, as she mentally cursed her sister. Not being able to resist looking, Tori turned to see Jade. Tori could see the Goth quickly fume with anger. For a brief moment Tori found herself on the receiving end of a near murderous look. Beck suddenly and rather nervously glanced from a grinning Trina to a rather unhappy looking Jade.

Trina urged her sister on. "What's she's going to do, glare you to death. She can't do or say shit to you Tori."

Trina turned and glanced over at Jade, pointing to her toes at the same time. "See these, you'll be painting them. When Tori wins."

"TRINA!" Tori scolded her sister.

Tori didn't bother to look at Jade this time, but heard a very audible growl coming from Jade's direction.

"Relax she can't do nothing to you." Trina said casually.

Suddenly having a thought Tori put her hand on Trina's shoulder, as half a smile came to her lips. "You're right, she can't touch me. But there's absolutely nothing in the bet, to say she can't kill you."

Trina's spirits suddenly seemed to deflate. "OH, I didn't think of that."

"Trina, I'd strongly advise you to get to class while Jade is still arguing with Beck."

Like a shot out of a cannon, Trina quickly took off. As Tori then opened her locker, she glanced over to see a still very angry looking Jade. Tori returned the Goth's glare with a bemused shrug, before returning her attention to her locker. Normally, Tori knew that Jade by this point would have certainly come over and said something insulting.

As Tori slammed her locker shut she couldn't help but see, the backside of Jade strutting away form her down the hallway. Much to her suprise at that particular moment, Tori found herself missing the insults.

**Tori's POV**

The rest of the morning was uneventful, to say the least. I had Jade in two classes and made a point of sitting on the other side of the room in each one. In each one I stole glances at Jade. I couldn't help it. In each class, she sat there was an expression which seemed to be halfway between irritation and boredom.

She paid no attention to me in the slightest. I found that annoying for some strange reason.

As I approached the asphalt café I wondered where I was going to sit. Would sitting at the same table as Jade count as violating her "space?"

I decided to err on the side of caution and took my tray of food to a table on the far end of the café. I had no idea if anyone was going to join me. First up was Jade and Beck, who went to the normal table. I purposely picked a table behind a pillar that was out of view from where the gang normally sat.

"Hey Chica" Said Andre as I saw him come up.

"Hey Andre, Que Tal." I said, happy to have at least one lunch companion.

"I'm good." He said sitting down. "I see you're keeping some distance from Jade."

I took a bite of my taco, before answering. "Yes, best to play it safe."

It was then Robbie, Rex and Cat showed up. They all sat down at the table. I was happy to have them join me.

"I like how the air is so much clearer over at this side of the café." Rex added as He and Robbie sat down.

"What's that supposed to mean? I can smell the stinky food truck here, as much as over there." Cat said quickly with a confused look.

"Cat, I think he's trying to say because Jade is not with us." Tori said, while giving Rex a nasty look.

"What's she doing now anyway?" Andre asked casually.

In reply, Cat immediately stood up and walked in the direction of Jade and Beck's table before anyone could stop her.

"I don't that was a very good idea of Cat to do that." Robbie quipped.

Andre leaned over and glanced in the direction that Cat had just gone. "Too late now.".

The red haired girl returned a few minute later, with a rather distinct frown on her face and sat down.

"What's the frown for Cat?" Robbie asked with a note of concern in his voice.

"She told me go and play in the street, like my cat Mittens did." Cat said, looking rather increasingly sad by the moment.

I was afraid to ask, but I did anyway. "Mittens?"

A quick stream of tears suddenly appeared on Cat's face. "She was my favorite kitty, but she got out of the house and was run over by a cement Truck."

Incensed, I immediately stood up intending on giving Jade a piece of my mind for upsetting Cat. Before I could get away from the table, Andre's hand gripped my arm. "And what are you about to do?"

"Tell Jade how rude it is too…oh crap." I said realizing that I was about to walk into a trap. I happened to catch a glimpse of Jade across the court and she was looking over at me with a rather distinctive smirk.

"She made Cat cry, just to provoke me." I said in disgust, as I sat back down. I then took a few moments, along with Robbie, to calm down the crying Cat.

Rex chuckled. "And you expected less from the Queen of Darkness? I hope you realize she has no intention of losing. She'd toss Mittens in front of another cement truck if it meant you would lose."

Cat only started to cry again at the mention of Mittens.

"REX! SHUT UP!" I shouted quickly, as I once again went to calm Cat once more.

At this point Trina came stomping by, looking rather unhappy. "You know what that freak Jade did?"

"Give you a golden sho.." Rex started to say, before Trina slapped Robbie in back of the head real hard.

"Owww" Robbie quickly protested "Hey Rex said that, not me!"

Trina leaned into close to Robbie's face with an intense gaze. "Now Rex has had limbs torn off before and he's always come back good as new. Perhaps next time he says something cute, something might happen to one of your arms. Like the one you stick in that perverted doll's back."

I didn't think it was possible, but I could have sworn I saw a quick look of fear appear on Rex's face. Robbie just nodded quickly, looking like he was going to cry. My sister, could sometimes be almost as intimidating as Jade. But that was if you really managed to annoy her.

I looked over at Trina. "What did Jade supposedly do?"

"Well somehow, my locker got glued shut with industrial strength epoxy. The janitor is trying to pry the door off. He said he's going to need a crowbar. Tori you have to win this bet."

I felt bad for Trina, but she did bring it upon herself. Part of me was slightly impressed by Jade's rather swift and sticky method of retaliation. Lord only knows where Jade found Industrial strenght epoxy so quickly. Trina didn't say anything else, but just shot Jade then Rex a nasty look and stomped off.

"Tori, Jade will try and trick you. You need to be careful." Andre said between bites.

Andre was right, Jade could be very crafty and devious. The fact that she would make some attempt to try and trick me into talking to her should come as no surprise at all. As I continued to eat I couldn't help but wonder what I would do to trick Jade. That was if I decided to play dirty like Jade was doing currently.

In the end I decided to play fair and not to make any attempts to trick Jade. I needed to focus on just staying out of her business.

As lunch was ending I couldn't help but see Jade walk out of the asphalt café alone. Her smirk that was on her face earlier was gone and had been replaced with a rather unhappy looking scowl.

Beck left the asphalt café right after that, looking rather down himself. I just never liked seeing people unhappy. Of the pair, it was Jade's unhappy scowl that bothered me the most.

But there was not one thing I could do about it, if I didn't want to end up Jade's slave.

I saw Jade a short while after that. She walked into Sikowitz's class, looking no less unhappy than before. She sat down next to Beck who was already there but hardly gave him a glance. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

As I sat there I was poked from behind. Turning round I saw it was Andre.

"You really want to lose this bet don't you Tori. Don't worry about them." He said quietly.

I took his advice and focused on school, pushing thoughts of Jade out of my head. The rest of the day, Jade acted as if I didn't exist. I saw Beck in the hallways once or twice but only said hello and left it at that.

After school ended, I found Trina by her car waiting for me.

"So did they get your locker open?" I said as I opened the door.

Trina's Jaw line hardened. "Yeah. They replaced the door, now I have to redecorate my locker door."

"I'm sorry." I said with a shrug.

Trina smirked as she got in the car herself. "Don't worry, we'll show her."

A little while later, I was doing my homework and saw it was 5:13 PM. One full day had past and I had 29 to go. I had managed to keep my nose out of Jade's business, but not my mind off of it.

I couldn't help but think that this was going to be harder than I thought.

**Que Tal = How are you.**

**I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far. My last story was so full of angst and pain, this one will have it's share of drama but it will be much more funny. **


	3. The Lady or the Tiger?

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 3 – The Lady or the Tiger?**

**Tori's pov.**

The buzzing of the alarm clock told me that I had begun day 2 of my little ordeal. Actually I was halfway through day 2 already since the 2nd day officially ends at 5 pm today. I was quick to wonder why I made this bet in the first place.

But I quickly pushed those thoughts aside and got ready for school as normal. A short while later I had come down to breakfast.

"So what's this bet you made with the West girl all about." My mother asked as I had taken my first bite of toast.

"Thanks blabbermouth" I quickly retorted to my sister.

"Don't blame your sister Tori, she just mentioned it in passing. I'm a little concerned about all of this. I thought this Jade, was a friend of yours."

My answer was interrupted by a hardy laugh from Trina. "The paled horror doesn't have any friends. The closest she has to one is Cat and she's more like a pet. Vampira simply tolerates everyone else."

I huffed loudly and shot my sister an angry glare. "She is not a paled horror, don't call her that."

"Than what do I call her then, Jade hardly seems fitting. After all Jade the stone, is precious, desirable and pretty. Jade the person, is none of those things." Trina said, with an oddly Jade like smirk."

"TAKE THAT BACK!" I yelled across the table. My angry reaction was swift, but it's intensity caught even me off guard.

Trina looked at me like I'd suddenly grown a beard. "Why in the hell are you defending her? Do you know what she'll do to you if she wins the bet? Don't be a fucking idiot!" Trina shot back, her voice raising as well.

"TRINA, TORI, Stop that, right now!" Our mother barked quickly, stopping Trina's and my argument dead in its tracks.

She looked to Trina first. "Trina, Language!"

Then her attention turned to me. "Now tell me about this argument! I want to know about it. Isn't she your friend?"

I couldn't help but sigh. "I want to be her friend. I've always been nice to her. Every time she comes to me with a problem, I'm the first to help her. I helped her with that play and gotten her back with Beck a couple of times. But she doesn't seem to want my friendship. She barked at me the other day said she just wanted to be away from me. I'm not sure why, but I bet with her. That I could stay away from her and her business for a month. She would have to leave me alone too. I don't think she'll be able to stay away from me. She thinks I won't be able to stay away from her."

My mom stood there with an unreadable expression for a moment before she asked.. "What are the stakes?"

Trina cut me off with her reply to my mom's question. "Loser has to the winners slave for a week. No request can be refused."

My mother quickly gave me a very disapproving look. "Tori, I don't approve of this but I wont do anything about it either. I'm not sure what you really hope to gain by this childish venture., but if I see this getting out of hand I will call Jade's mother and put a stop to this. Do you understand Victoria!"

Oh great, I could just see the smirk on Jade's face if my mother had to intervene. Jade would hound me mercilessly for weeks in response. But I simply had no choice.

"Understood." I said quietly, before getting back to my breakfast.

I waited until I was in the car, before I decided to let my sister have it.

"Trina." I shouted in the middle of her singing a Taylor swift song, very off key. At this point she stopped singing and glared at me.

"What?"

"What? What? Do you know how embarrassing it was to have to explain my bet with Jade to mom? Do you have even a clue how much Jade will razz me, if my mom calls her mom and puts a stop to this. I thought you were on my side? Why on earth did you have to tell mom about this?" I shouted out in frustration.

Trina shrugged. "Look I'm sorry. She was just asking me what was going on and it slipped out."

"And why you have to keep calling Jade names?" I said with a growl.

"Don't you remember my locker being glued shut yesterday?"

"Yeah, but you after all said you were going to have me make Beck go out with you. It's not a good idea to taunt Jade. Trina."

Trina huffed. "It's about a stupid of an idea as trying to be her friend, you're wasting your time. You'd be better off trying to make friends with the girl in band with the facial tick."

I couldn't help feel disgusted. "Ewww, she picks her nose."

"Ooooh, her majesty can't be bothered with the lower class commoners." Trina quickly shot back.

"She's weird"

"So is scissor freak and doll boy. Yet you still hang with them." Trina said, as we pulled into the parking lot of Hollywood arts.

This argument was going no where so I just cut if off as I we parked. "Look, just don't provoke Jade any further. OK."

Trina turned off the car and looked at me. "Fine. Look. I'm just looking out for you."

"I know." It was hard to believe, but deep down I know she really was.

The morning went normally. Jade was there and seemed to be getting along with Beck today. But there still seemed to be a tension between them. I could just see it written on their faces. Just looking at the way they sat next to each other, I knew there were dealing with major issues. There was a stiffness or a tension to both of their bodies.

What it all meant lingered in my thoughts for a bit before I dismissed it. At lunch I was joined by Andre and Robbie. Cat and Beck ate with Jade, though Cat stopped by to say hello for a few minutes.

I even chatted with Beck for a few minutes in between classes. It was mostly just small talk and discussion of our latest english assignment. I did not mention Jade but I did ask how he was doing. He paused for a moment and then said "Everythings great." with a rather convincing smile. It wasn't quite convincing enough, however.

As I turned to leave I said one final thing to Beck. "Look, Beck about what Trina said yesterday morning. I'm sorry she was being a gank. I told her not to provoke a certain unnamed person."

"Wise thing, that got her pretty riled up and you don't want that. I don't need that either." The way he looked as he said it, I got the impression that he regretted saying the last part out loud.

"Well I am sorry. You didn't deserved to be embarrassed like that." I said very apologetically.

Beck nodded his head and casually ran his hand through his hair. "No worries."

I suddenly heard a loud and impatient tapping coming from the far end of the hallway. I turned to see Jade standing there, a rather dour look on her face, tapping her foot impatiently.

At this moment a rather devilish thought ran through my mind. I can devious too, maybe not Jade level of devious, but I can be. I half wondered if suddenly kissing Beck on the lips would be considered getting into Jade's business. That would certainly provoke her to talk to me causing me to win the bet. I decided that apologizing for my sister's behavior would be permitted, but making an actual move would not be. Not that I really want to date Beck anyway. I see him too much like a brother. In fact, I haven't found a guy that really appeals to me in some time.

I decided to play fair and leave, but not without getting a little jest at Jade's expense in there. "So how long do you think I have to stand her before she finally explodes? I better not find out. I think that's my que to flee in terror. See you later Beck." I said playfully, as I backed off.

"Later Tori" said as I disappeared around a corner. For a second just before I went out of sight, I saw the tiniest hint of a smile on Beck's face. I think he found my little crack funny.

**No one's pov**

Just as Tori vanished around the corner, Jade came stomping up to Beck.

"What were you two talking about! Did she violate the terms of our bet?"

"We were just chatting. That and she apologized to me for her sister's behavior yesterday. Tori felt bad because her sister embarrassed me. She said she told Trina not to provoke you." Beck said defensively.

Jade quickly looked off in the direction Tori had gone then back to Beck, but said nothing.

Beck put a hand on Jade's shoulder. "Look, as far as I see it, she didn't violate the terms of your bet. She apologized to me for my embarrassment. As close as she came was that fact that she told Trina to leave you alone. I would guess that is something you would want, in any case. She didn't get into your business. She actually kept Trina out of it."

Jade huffed "Fine, the bet's still on. I'm still going to win."

"Oh, I'm sure in the end you'll win, ruin her dreams and crush her hopes rather thoroughly." Beck said rather sarcastically.

Suddenly angry, Jade batted Beck's hand off her shoulder. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

A somber look came on Beck's face as he crossed his arms. "You said you were going to drive her out of school. I assumed, that is what you wanted. Is it? Do you really want to ruin Tori? Maybe I'm being an asshole by asking it, but it's an honest question."

Jade's entire body seemed to tense up. After a moment of what looked to be angry indecision, Jade simply hissed. "FUCK YOU!"

Then the angry Goth simply stormed off.

His heart twitched as he watched her stomp off. He hated it when she went away mad. Sadly it seemed to be happening more and more. It was a helpless feeling watching it all seem to slip away.

"I love you." Beck said to Jade as he walked down the hallway.

The Goth paused for a moment, not bothering to look back.

"Are you going to be home later tonight?" Jade asked, her voice sounding tense.

"For you, always."

Still not looking back, Jade nodded and started to walk away again. Beck knew that her nod, was not any indication of weather she would come by or not. He knew the question would piss Jade off. But it was one he wanted to ask, regardless. Did Jade really want to drive Tori out of school? He still wasn't sure of the answer. Actually more and more, he had no idea what Jade wanted.

Tori went to class thinking about, what else, Jade. It occurred to Tori, that she seemed to be thinking more of Jade now than less. But the rest of the day passed uneventfully. Jade barely looked in her direction, though occasionally the Goth would bestow upon her a look of scorn.

At the end of the day as Tori was walking her normal route back to her lockers from English class, she heard a familiar cry for help.

"Someone help me, I've fallen and I think I sprained my ankle." Tori suddenly heard Cat cry out from the bottom of the stairs. Tori thought Cat sounded like she was in pain.

Tori had been in the basement before. Besides the normal basement stuff, the Art room was in the basement as well.

The Latina immediately ran towards the stairs to help. But as Tori neared the top of the stairs, she heard a second voice come from down below.

"Oh my god, you've fallen, I'll help you Jade." A very enthusiastic voice which sounded like Sinjin's, called out from the bottom of the stairs.

"GO AWAY YOU IDIOT, YOUR RUINING IT!" Tori suddenly heard Jade screech at the top of her lungs.

That stopped Tori dead in her tracks, as she quickly realized she almost fell into another trap. Cat wasn't at the bottom of the stairs; it was Jade, imitating Cat's Voice. Tori had no idea Jade could imitate Cat's voice so well.

"Thanks Sinjin! I'll let you handle the poor injured Cat." Tori yelled out, as a smile came to her face.

She had to admit, Jade sounded exactly like Cat and Cat in pain to boot.. Tori was in fact quite impressed by the performance, but all she could do is shake he head and walk away. If it wasn't for Sinjin's "Interference" Tori knew she may not have stopped herself from talking to Jade.

A moment later Tori could hear was now a very frustrated Jade yell out. "GET YOUR HAND'S OFF ME, NO..I ..DON'T NEED TO BE HEL..NO…LET GO..I MEAN IT.." After that there was the distinctive sound of a face being slapped and possibly a punch. Tori was passed by a fleeing Sinjin a few seconds later. As he ran past, Tori could see him clutching his stomach as if someone had punched him in the gut.

**Tori's POV **

A few minutes later I encountered Cat and Beck who were talking just outside the school.

"Hey Cat, how's your ankle?" I asked with a strange smile. Though I was going to play fair, it didn't mean I couldn't have some fun. Its perfectly with in my right to inquire about the status of Cat's health since I heard "Her" cry out for help earlier.

Cat looked at her ankles with a puzzled expression than back to Me. "Fine. Why?"

A mischievous smile came to my face. "Well I heard you a few moments ago calling out for help at the bottom of the stairs to the basement. You said, you thought your ankle was sprained."

Cat's eyes bugged out. "Oh my god, am I alright?" The red haired girl immediately started to inspect her ankles to see if the were ok.

"Did I tell you which one it was? I think the left one is starting to swell."

I looked to Beck for a moment who, judging by the annoyed expression on his face, had figured out what was going on.

"Relax, Cat your fine. I'm beginning to think there wasn't a Cat at the bottom of the stairs after all. It might have been a Tiger." I knew perfectly well, what was at the bottom of those stairs, I was just being coy about it.

A look of fright suddenly appeared on Cat's face. "I'm afraid of tigers. They eat people."

"Don't worry, this one's bark is worse than it's bite. You're fine, give me a call later. Maybe we can go out. I'll see you." I said reassuringly.

Cat smiled, but looked slightly puzzled at the same time. "I didn't know Tigers could Bark. Kay, Kay"

As I walked away she could hear Cat ask. "Beck could you put your arm around me and walk me to my car? I want to be careful of my ankles just in case. I don't want to miss tap dancing class cause I hurt myself."

Glancing back, I could see Beck roll his eyes, but he quickly humored the red haired girl. He then put his arms around her and help her to walk. Cat hobbled across the lot, apparently not sure which of her ankles was hurt.

Trina was waiting at her car when I arrived at it. Glancing back one last time, I could see Jade come out of the building. She already looked madder then a wet hen. Seeing her boyfriend's arm around Cat only seemed to worsen her mood. Even from this distance I could see her face scrunch up and her fists clench.

I nudged Trina and said. "This is turning out better than I thought. Watch the fun."

From clear across the parking lot Trina and I watched as Jade stormed up the pair and started to yell at Beck. A moment later, both he and Cat started to yell back at Jade. I couldn't quite hear what was being said but I heard the word "Mittens" yelled out by Cat at least once. Apparently she was still sore about the mention of her beloved dead pet.

After a moment of being yelled at, Jade just screamed in frustration and stormed off to her car. She must have been not aware of my presence on the other side of the lot. Had she looked she would have seen both Trina and I laughing at her hysterically. Once in her car, the fuming Goth quickly burned rubber out of the parking lot and disappeared down the street.

After Trina and I finished laughing, she turned to me. "What was all that about?"

"Jade tried to fake me out. I heard Cat cry out for help saying she hurt her ankle from the bottom of the basement stairs. But thanks to Sinjin, I discovered just in time it was Jade." I put my hand to my heart. "But as a TRUE FRIEND, I did my duty and inquired to Cat if her ankle was really ok. Beck figured out what happened and Jade got an earful."

Trina burst out laughing again and gave me a fist bump. "Holy chiz, you totally messed her up and you didn't say one single word to her. Brilliant. Come on, let's go before the "Dark Cloud" returns.

That ended the last bit of excitement for day 2 of my little bet. I went out with Cat and Andre that evening and we went out to the Santa Monica pier for some fun. We rode the rides, ate junk food and had a great time. We avoided the subject of Jade, but I'll admit it would have been more fun with her around.

As I went to bed, I crossed off day 2 on my calender. I only had 28 left.

**Once again Jade tried to trick Tori, but this time she managed to turn the tables on the Goth quite nicely.**

**The title of the chapter is a reference to the short story of the same name by Frank Stockton**


	4. Worthwhile?

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 4 – Worthwhile?**

**Tori's pov**

I didn't see Jade for the next two days, which was Thursday and Friday. At first I thought it was due to some drama with her boyfriend, Beck. Cat told me on Friday, that Jade skipped school so she could audition for the movie

SHARKNADO 2: RETURN OF THE STORM.

I guess Sharknado was a cruddy sci-fi channel movie that involved a big storm pulling hundreds of sharks out of the water and onto land. Some were swimming around in the flooded streets and other were flying through the air in a big tornado. I guess the flying ones had a habit of landing on people, gobbling them up as they came down from the sky. Apparently the movie was so epic in its badness, it was a giant hit. They say it lit up twitter like a Christmas tree.

So a hastily rushed, and I mean hastily, rushed sequel was put into production. I heard they don't even have a fully written script yet. Cat told me that Jade auditioned for the role of

Pretty girl on park bench, eaten by a falling hammerhead shark.

I can only hope to see Jade being eaten by a falling shark, I'd buy that movie on DVD for sure. I'd actually buy copies for everyone I knew if it had Jade being eaten in it. Just because I like Jade, doesn't mean it won't be funny to see her get eaten by a falling shark.

But I'll admit it was even more dull than normal with Jade not even being there. The weekend went as normal. I didn't see Jade of course; I hung with Cat and Robbie at the beach on Saturday. Sunday I went to the movies with Andre and Beck of all people, we saw Pacific Rim.

When Andre asked Beck about a certain person's whereabouts, he swiftly said. "I don't know." Rather tersely. We let the subject drop after that.

Monday, Jade was back in school. I could tell Jade's overall look was harsher than normal. Her clothes were solid black, not one trace of any other color was present. The only trace of color was a streak of blood red in her hair, which seemed to be even blacker than normal.

Her attitude came quite apparent. In the morning, when at I was at my locker I saw a cheerful Cat walk up to Jade and ask something. Though I couldn't hear what Cat asked, Jade's answer was probably heard by half the school.

"NO, I DIDN'T GET THE FUCKING PART!"

After a moments pause, Jade started to speak again.

"Every dam B actress in Hollywood, is gunning for a part in that movie. Hoping to revive their dying career. You want to know who got that stupid part? Lindsey Lohan got the fucking part. I hate that fucking Bitch." Jade continued to rant on. A moment later Jade slammed her locker shut and stormed off.

I walked over to Cat who was still standing by Jade's locker, looking a bit stunned. "You ok, Cat?" I asked as I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jade yelled at me. I was just asking if she got the part." Cat said as she looked even sadder.

I put my arm around her to comfort the Red haired girl. "Don't feel bad, you were just being a good friend. You know Jade's always a bit testy when she doesn't get parts. Remember when she got beat out for that spot in that Cat food commercial, she was unapproachable for days. You did nothing wrong. You just keep doing what you're doing."

"Thank's Tori."

"Just let her cool down for a bit, than try to talk to her. I assure you she needs friends more than ever." I said in a calm, reassuring tone of voice.

"She doesn't make it easy, doesn't it?"

I could only help but smile. "As my grandmother used to say; nothing worthwhile is ever easy."

At this point my sister Trina who was probably eavesdropping walked by. "I doubt Grandma would say that, if she met Jade. She's far from worthwhile." She quipped.

I quickly huffed. "Shut up Trina! No one asked you."

Trina just rolled her eyes and kept going. I then gave cat a pat on the back. "Come on you need to get to class. You're a good person Cat, don't forget that."

As I could feel the tension dissipate from Cat's body, I pulled my arm back. She nodded as a smile grew on her lips. "I'll just give her some space for now. Thanks again Tori.

**No one's POV**

As Tori herself walked away, Jade who had also been eavesdropping, stepped out from the doorway she had been hiding in. To a casual observer, it would appear that her expression softened as she seemed to think for a moment. A few seconds later she wordlessly walked away. Her brief expression of thoughtfulness was quickly replaced by a particularly harsh scowl.

An hour later Jade, still crabby as can be, was sitting in music theory class. The only bright light in her miserable day was oddly due to Vega, of all people. Although she was loathe to admit it, hearing Tori talk to Cat, briefly lifted the darkness that seemed to surround her soul. Full of indecision, doubt, confusion and a hundred other emotions, Jade found herself focusing on this odd contest of wills. It consumed her and the most bothersome part of it is that she wasn't sure why. Jade took a brief second to glance over at Vega. She told herself it was simply to keep tabs on the annoying Latina. That's what she told herself, every other time she did as well.

Near the end of class, Mr. Tatum handed out a sheet of paper to all the students and began to speak.

"OK, the sheet you have gotten today is the big term paper I said would be 25% of your grade. This paper is about Concept albums. Normally one song will tell a story, but in these cases, an artist or group uses an entire album to tell a story. In the paper which is due in one month, you will analyzed the musical structure of the album, tell me the story, what it means, what the artist was trying to say and the circumstances surrounding the making of the album. In this hat on my desk, is slips of paper, each with the name of concept album. That will be the one you will write your paper on. Many of these are older and you may not even be familiar with them but it will give you a fresh perspective. I have CD's of all the albums for you to borrow at my desk. Pick them up after class. The sheets in front of you will have full details."

He then walked around with the had and had each student pick out a slip of paper. Jade opened hers.

Operation: Mindcrime - Queensryche

She wasn't too familiar with the album but the title sounded promising to her.

"Now as I said an album tells a story, not in one song, but with many." He then pointed to Tori. "Now Tori, what is the album you have to write about."

Tori opened her slip of paper. It was an album she had only heard about, but never listened too.

"My album is Pink Floyd: The Wall" The Latina said aloud.

Mr. Tatum nodded. "OK, That album is about a Rock Star named Pink. Not the current female singer. Due to life on the road and other factors, he becomes isolated and builds up an emotional wall between him and the outside world."

"Kind of like the wall that Jade has around her, the one that keeps me from getting in." Tori mused to herself. She found herself looking forward to writing the paper.

Lunch rolled around and Tori sat down in her spot, wondering who would join me today. Cat was soon to join and took a seat. A frantic looking Robbie ran up a few minutes later.

"Rex is gone! I can't find Rex." He said as he walked around the table nervously.

"What happened?" Tori asked quickly.

Robbie ran his hand's through his hair. "Umm… I was going to the bathroom and I put Rex on the sink as he hates it when I take him into the stall. When I came back he was gone."

"Someone stole him?"

Robbie quickly sat down, though as he did he seemed to look all about. He was plainly looking for Rex.

"I heard the door to the bathroom open, but when I came out Rex was gone and no one was around. Where is he? I need to find him." Robbie was panic stricken.

**Tori's POV**

Suddenly I had a sneaking suspicion as to not what happened to Rex, but who happened to Rex. I leaned back on my seat and glanced over at a certain Goth. I sat there for a few moments watching her to see how she would react.

Jade was alone at the table, eating her salad and reading something. As I watched, the Goth looked up for a second and with no smirk or scowl, just went back to reading. The fact that Jade made no smirk or bother to glare at me, convinced me that Jade was guilty. She ripped off Rex to get to me. Why is she so determined to win? Does she really want to drive me from school that badly or is there a different reason she wants me as her slave? I'm not sure what to think of that.

"Did you ask Jade, if you've seen him?"

"Um…No. Does she have him?" He said glancing over at the Goth.

"Yes, I'll bet money on it." I said, just before I stuck a forkfull of salad in my mouth.

Robbie then stood up and seemed to gather his wits. "I'm going to ask for Rex, back."

Cat smiled and put her hand on Robbie's arm. "Go ahead, I'm proud of you."

They watched as Robbie cautiously approached the table. As he got nearer, Jade looked up from her book and gave him an ice cold stare that stopped the curly hared boy dead in his tracks. She then took out her pair of scissors and after playing with them for a moment, sat them down next to her book. As she did that, a rather evil looking grin appeared on her face.

Robbie quickly panicked and ran off.

Not wanting to see Robbie so upset I began to get up, but Cat got up first.

"I know she's trying to get to you. The thing is, as timid as I can be sometimes and as much as I hate rex. I like Robbie more." Cat said with a very unusual look of determination on her face.

Cat walked straight over to Jade, ignoring the same icy stare that Robbie got and started to yell at Jade. At the same time Cat snatched Jade's scissors off the table.

I couldn't quite hear what was said but she did hear Cat eventually shout.

"NOW STOP BEING A GANK, CUT IT OUT AND GIVE REX BACK!" She said it, as she pointed a finger straight at Jade. Cat then threw the scissors down on the table and walked off in the direction that Robbie went.

For a moment I could see a look of embarrassment on Jade's face. After all she had just gotten chewed out by Cat of all people. I really didn't think Cat had it in her, but I was impressed. Little Cat's got some claws, good to know.

Jade just fumed for a moment, then picked up her stuff and left. Just as Jade was getting up, I went back to eating where Andre joined her a few minutes later.

I didn't see Jade for the rest of the day, but she did find out that Rex turned up. He was found duct taped to the front of Robbie's locker just after lunch.

The rest of the day went as normal. But I couldn't help but think about what I said to Cat earlier. "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy."

I know Jade is a worthwhile person to know. I just feel it deep down inside of me. There is a good person inside of her and I want to know her. My biggest fear is not that I will win this contest, but it's that I turn out to be wrong about Jade. I don't want to be wrong.

Just before I went to bed, I crossed off the latest day. It had been one full week since the bet started. 23 days left.

**The movie Sharknado is a real movie and just the other day a Sharknado 2 has been greenlight for production. We probably won't see Liz Gillies in that movie. Though I do hear she's currently filming a horror movie. Let's hope it's a good one, but I'm sure she'll knock em dead. **

**There has not been too much from Jade's perspective as of yet. It's mostly been Tori, but things will change. **


	5. The Bucket

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me. **

**The Bet**

**Chapter 5 – The Bucket**

**No One's POV**

For Tori the next three days were uneventful. Jade kept to herself and made not attempts to trick Tori. In fact the Latina was actually kind of disappointed that Jade didn't try anything. To Tori, Jade seemed very moody and angry, actually more than she usually was. She half wondered if the Goth was plotting something. Occasionally she would see Beck attempt to talk with her. Either she would blow him off or they would argue furiously. Tired of her crap, Andre, Robbie and Cat all gave Jade the cold shoulder. Tori, though she didn't speak with Jade, gave no indication that she held any kind of grudge against Jade.

But as the week dragged on, Tori still couldn't help but keep her mind on Jade. Often times she would steal glances at the Goth, even more than before. At least once she caught the Goth looking at her. Tori could only think that this was turning out to be a very strange game.

Tori did a bunch of things with the gang over the three days. All without Jade of course. But Tori would have to admit, it never was as much fun as it was without Jade around. Her dark humor, snarky comments and general Evil disposition always livened things up.

Thursday night rolled around and Beck was in a hopeful mood. He was supposed to be working on a student film project all night but it was canceled when one of the actors developed a migraine. So a little after 8 in the evening, they called it quits for the night.

Jade had been in a hideous mood all week. It all seemed to stem from the fact that she just didn't know what she wanted anymore. That and she seemed to become a bit insecure, though she was loathe to show it. Beck had hoped that since he had the night off he could spend some time with Jade and they could try and work things out. This project had been occupying most of his evening hours for the last couple of days. He wanted this to work out, but was no longer sure if Jade did. It was terribly frustrating for him.

So instead of calling first he decided to grab some of Jade's favorite coffee, some of her favorite chinese food and surprise her. Mrs. West answered his knock at the door and let him in.

"Jade's upstairs doing homework, Beck. Just tell her that her father and I are heading out for the evening." She said.

Beck nodded and headed upstairs and walked into Jade's room.

"Hey babe." He said as she casually entered.

Jade turned to look, looking not as happy as he hoped.

Beck placed the coffee and chinese food on the table. "Uhh…the shoot for tonight was canceled, I brought you some coffee and chinese food. Your mom let me in. She said they were going out."

A moment later he went to kiss her. Though she quietly accepted the kiss, Beck could see her stiffen slightly just before he gave it.

"I was doing homework and laundry" Jade said sharply, but then looked at the coffee and food. "Well thanks I guess."

They sat and talked while they ate, but the conversation was halting and Jade seemed tense. Eventually Jade went downstairs get some stuff out of the dryer leaving beck alone in the room.

As he sat on Jade's bed, trying to think of what to say to help them, he spotted something glittery on the floor in Jade's closet. Now he knew that Jade wasn't a person who liked glittery things. Curiously he poked his head in the closet and saw it was a metal bucket.

But this one was decorated with blue glitter and silver stars. It looked rather gaudy, like a cheap decoration. It looked strangely familiar. Puzzled, Beck looked in the bucket. Inside was a long length of rope and a scrap of paper.

Something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn't anything good. "Please let this be nothing." Beck said to himself as he unfolded the scrap of paper.

It was a diagram of the black box theatre. On the diagram showed a spot on the stage that was marked. Directly above that mark was the notes.

"place bucket on girder here."

The last thing it showed was how the rope ran down behind the stage to where a figure was holding it.

Now Beck remembered where he saw that bucket before.

It was from the movie CARRIE. Jade had decorated it just like the one in the 1970's horror film. Abruptly Beck ran to the small fridge that Jade had in he room. She usually kept, beer, water and soda in it. But this time when he opened the fridge he saw a large milk jug filled with red liquid.

Incensed, he turned to glare at Jade as soon as she entered.

"WHAT IN THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT BUCKET!" He barked out immediately.

Jade dropped the basket of laundry as she became visibly angry. "I told you to stay out of my closet. Just because you're my boyfriend that doesn't give you the right to go through my stuff."

"Are you going to dump this on Tori! As I recall there's a recital on Monday with a bunch of students."

But before she could answer, Beck figured it out. "No, this wasn't meant for Tori. This is meant for Trina. Just so you can get back at her and provoke Tori to talk to you at the same fucking time."

"SO!" Jade said crossing her arms.

Beck fumed with anger. "SO, SO. This is seriously fucked up Jade. Snatching Rex and making Cat cry is bad enough. This shit with the bucket is just plain sick."

"What's wrong with me winning!" Jade shouted.

Beck's long line of patience had finally been exhausted and he began to shout. "It's just that Jade. You say you want space from Tori and you get a whole month free from her. Except for that one time where she told Cat about you faking that she was injured, she's left you alone. She's done nothing wrong. But instead of using that time to work things out with me, you focus on Tori. On this bet. How to win this stupid bet! Me, I stupidly thought that maybe we could try and bring our relationship back from the brink. Like maybe I could figure out what the fuck you want from me. I try and try and all I get is shit from you." Beck half suspected that Jade was oddly obsessed with Tori, but he didn't actually say it.

"I just want to beat her. You know I love to win." Jade said defensively.

"Don't give me that. It's more than that. You're hell bent on making Tori your slave. You say you want to drive her out of school, but when I ask if that's what your real intentions are you can't answer. Why do you need to win this so badly? If Tori wins, all she'll do is make you be nice to her for a week. At the worst she'd just make you wear something pink. So why do you want to win so badly? "

Beck stood there, glaring at Jade, waiting for an answer.

"Why are you taking her side!" Jade shouted.

Beck took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Because she always plays fair and she's a nice person. Unlike you, she doesn't get her jollies out of other peoples pain. She doesn't like hurting other people as you may have noticed. And yet she still wants to be your friend."

Suddenly a sneer appeared on Jade's face as she suddenly broke into the mock southern accent she uses with Tori. "Oh I get it, Big daddy Beck wants little ole me to act like the nice girl Tori Vega, from the plantation up the road!"

"Not a chance buster. If you want Tori Vega than you're in the wrong bedroom." Jade said using her own voice, but it was filled with hostility.

"I DON'T WANT TORI VEGA!" Beck shouted back. "I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU HATE HER SO DAM MUCH!"

Jade's face turned red as she became even more angry. "Cause Tori Vega is a worthless spoiled brat who gets whatever she wants just by blinking those pretty brown eyes of hers." Jade quickly spit out. "Not to mention that everyone prefers her sick company over me. I just want to prove how much of a phony she is."

Beck suddenly had a realization, "You're Jealous of her!"

"I AM NOT! That stupid bitch waltzed into Hollywood arts, stole my friends, stole my solos and stole all the best parts in the plays."

"Didn't it ever occur to you that maybe she was better than you. I'm getting tired of the huge chip on your shoulder."

"FUCK YOU BECK AND FUCK TORI VEGA TOO!" Jade roared with the full fury of her anger.

Beck stepped Back and pointed to the bucket. "I don't know what's going on, in that head of yours. But for starters, if you pull that stunt. I will make sure Lane and Principal Helen find out you did it. I doubt they'd be very amused. Second. You and me, we're done. I'm tired of trying to get through to you. I'm tired of banging my head on your emotional walls and getting nothing but a headache. Not to mention you have no idea what you really want."

Deep down Beck suspected that Jade's fixation on Tori, had more to do with than simple Jealously. In any case, he just couldn't go on anymore.

Jade took a step forward looking a bit stunned. "Are you breaking up with me?"

Beck huffed and looked Jade straight in the eye. "Yes." There was a sad look to his face as he said it.

The next sound that was heard was the door to Jade's room slamming as Beck left it.

For almost 2 minutes afterward Jade just stood there fuming with anger. But almost without warning tears burst from her eyes and she sank to her knees as she began to sob. It was then, that Jade realized that the only person now who didn't hate her was in fact, Tori Vega. She just didn't know what to think about the Latina.

"Why can't I get her out of my mind?" Jade thought to herself between sobs as her carefully controlled emotions burst forth.

**Tori's POV**

On Friday when I woke up I thought to myself that it was day 11 of our bet. We were just over 1/3rd through. I got a bit of a shock that morning when I checked out the updates on my slap page.

Jade West has changed her status from, in a relationship with Beck Oliver, to single.

Beck Oliver has changed his status from, in a relationship with Jade West to Single.

Ok everyone in the school could see that coming a mile away, but I was still shocked. I wasn't sure what to feel really, I felt oddly conflicted about it. I felt bad for her but at the same time, I really didn't. I actually kind of glad she wasn't with Beck, which is odd since I have no real interest in Beck.

"OH MY GOD, BECK IS SINGLE!" The booming voice of my sister suddenly jarred me out of my thoughts. I quickly turned to see her standing in the doorway of my room.

"I just saw that." I said pointing to my computer.

"I can't wait to show him a real woman." My sister said with a smirk as she pushed her chest out and up into the air.

"Why do you know one?" I said with a smirk of my own.

"Hmph…" she said out loud before walking off.

In any case, I'm sure she'll have to take a number. Lot's of Hollywood art's girls are squealing for Joy at the moment or licking their chops. My mind was firmly on the one that obviously wasn't.

The car ride in, mostly consisted of Trina planning her and Beck's wedding. Even though I viewed Trina and Beck's wedding as a near impossibility and rather absurd, I was somewhat insulted that I was passed up for role of Maid of Honor. She picked her friend Molly over me.

Beck was getting out of his car as Trina and began to walk across the school parking lot. Before I could say anything, Trina waved her hand and shouted. "HI BECK." I'm pretty sure she batted her eyes at him as well.

He just made a nervous smile and said a polite hello back. I walked up to him and said. "I know it's a dumb question, but how are you doing?"

"I'm here." He said rather depressed sounding voice. "But thanks for asking."

I got the feeling that he needed to be alone with his thoughts and that would be hard enough with the small crowd of girls I could now see coming in his direction so I smiled and said.

"I am sorry. If you need anything. Just call. That and let me know if you need any help fighting them off with a stick. I got a really pointy one."

"Thank you" I could tell he seemed to appreciate that bit of humor as the corner of his mouth crept into a smile. With that I left him to the mercy of the crowd of potential girlfriends.

As I walked into school, the first thing I did was to look to Jade's locker. I just wanted to see the expression on her face. Was she happy, sad, bored, angry, or will she show any emotion at all. However she was nowhere to be seen. I felt an odd tugging at my heart and a bizarre sense of longing. But the thought of our bet, quickly sobered me up. I grabbed my books and headed to class.

She was gone for the 1st half of the day, lord even knows why. I eventually saw her briefly at the end of lunch and only from behind. She was at the food truck getting something. After that she just went back inside the school.

Between 6th and 7th period, I was coming up the stairs to head to Honor's choir when at the top of the stairway was Jade. It was only us on the stairway and for a moment both of us halted and starred at each other.

As I studied Jade's expression her angry brooding expression suddenly vanished. For an instant I could see what was lurking underneath it all. It was a look of profound sadness, it was unmistakably written all over her face. Instinctively knew this was no act, no attempt to get me to talk to her. Why would she suddenly show this to me, I thought she hated me? But then again when she was upset, I was the person she usually went to. I just can't read her sometimes. Maybe that is why I find her so fascinating.

The look of sadness in her eyes seemed to briefly intensify and for a moment her mouth opened as if she was on the verge of saying something.

"Just stay out of my fucking business." Those angry hate filled words of Jade, she spoke to me the first day of our bet, suddenly roared through my head. Then I remembered the pain of constant rejection.

"We have a bet." I thought, with some misgivings not to mention it's what she wanted. I didn't want to but I decided to leave her be.

An instant later I put my head down as if the stairs was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world and kept walking.

If she was going to say anything, she didn't. She just stood there as I kept going up the stairs. I could see her boots out of the corner of my eye as I past her. Once again I felt an odd tugging at my heart, it was mixed with the pain I felt countless times she's rejected my friendship.

So I just kept going and didn't look back. As I neared the top of the stairs, I could hear her slowly start to walk again. I could have sworn I heard the sound of a very faint sigh as she did.

A little later I was sitting on the steps of the school waiting for my sister. She was probably chasing after Beck and forgot she had to take me home. I was thinking of our encounter on the stairs. How at the same time I was feeling good that I once again stayed strong but also felt bad for just ignoring her in a time of need. I was feeling very conflicted. Part of me really wanted to win this bet. Part of me wanted to lose.

"What's up Chica?" I heard Andre say as he sat down next to me.

"Hey Andre."

"You look like something is on you're mind."

I'm not sure if I really feel like going into all of this. It's hard to describe but I don't really want to share my thoughts and feelings about Jade with anybody right now. So I just lied. "No, I was just running through some lyrics in my head.

"Hey, you coming to Scarlett Thompson's party Saturday?"

Scarlett was in Honor's choir with me, I didn't hang with her very much but she seemed like a friendly sort of person. I had heard she usually threw a pretty good party. She had asked me if I was coming earlier and I took the chance.

"Yea, is anyone else coming." Translation "Is Jade coming?" Let's face it, she is on my mind.

Andre scratched the back of his head. "I know Cat and Robbie are coming. Beck said he has some audition in the morning so he won't be there."

"Audition?"

"They're making a new version of some old 60's TV show called Land of the Giant's. He was trying out for a bit part. I never heard of it, I'll bet you haven't either."

I couldn't help but smile and let a bit of my inner geekdom come out. I'm a closet science fiction fan as I used to watch all these old shows with my dad. We would have a great old time. "Actually I have. My dad used to watch that on cable when I was a kid. I would watch it with him. These guys in a new type of sub orbital passenger Jet go through a wormhole and end up on a parallel world where they are very small. The giants there want to experiment on them, so hey have to dodge the oppressive government there and try to get their ship fixed so they can escape. I used to pretend I was really tiny after I watched the show."

Andre just laughed. "Oh my god, you're a closet geek are you. I suppose you speak Klingon as well."

I just laughed. "Not that much. So, let's just say I'm curious. Do you know if Jade's coming?"

"I don't know." He said with a curious look.

I saw Trina at this point standing by her car looking very impatient. "Well my rides here. See you later Andre."

As I drove home my thoughts went to Jade again. Did I do the right thing by not speaking?

I just didn't know.

**I would like to thank everyone for all the nice reviews they've left. You are all so kind. I do my best to write a good story. I would also like to thank Invader Johnny for his original idea and the help in writing this story. Much more to come. **


	6. Trespass

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 6 – Trespass**

**No One's POV**

Tori was half through putting on her makeup, in preparation for the party, when her sister stepped into the doorway. She was holding two dresses.

"Which one of these dresses do you think Beck will like Best? The pink one or the green one."

"Sorry sis. Beck's not coming! He's got an audition in the morning." Tori answered with a shrug.

Trina's expectant smile quickly morphed into a rather distinct frown. "Dam it, now what am I supposed to do?"

Tori couldn't help but smirk.. "Well, I'm sure their will be plenty of other guys to shoot you down at the party."

"Ohhhh..Real funny….Someday you'll have to put failed comedian next to the failed pop star on your resume." Trina said before heading back to her room.

Annoyed, Tori yelled down the hallway. "I will too be a pop star just watch me."

"Three words Tori, One hit wonder."

The argument was halted by the appearance of their father in the bathroom doorway. "Tori, didn't you say you have your drivers test tomorrow!"

Tori crossed her fingers. "Yes! Fourth time's the charm."

"Tell you what. If you pass, I'll take you out car shopping afterwards. I think you could buy a decent used car. You've been saving your money and I think your sister is getting tired of hauling you around."

"Dam right!" Came Trina's voice from her bedroom.

"I wasn't talking to you Trina!" He shot back.

A broad grin appeared on Tori's face. "Thank you Daddy."

""You're welcome. You going out with friends tonight?"

Tori nodded.

He kissed her on the forehead. "Just stay safe."

"Yes daddy."

A half an hour later, Tori and Trina were riding in the car to Scarlet Thompson's party. "Try not to cramp my style." Trina said as they sped down the street.

"Well your style needs a bit of updating since I'm pretty sure that saying went out of vogue at least 20 years ago. Which is odd, since you're only 18."

"Do you want to walk to the party? Little miss smarty pant's."

"No."

Not too far away Jade was putting on the final touches of her makeup. She had picked one of her hottest little black dresses in preparation for the party. After she finished, she walked in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom. She looked perfect. In a black top, with mini skirt and lace stockings. On the inside she felt far from perfect.

Still hurting from the break up the previous night she just wanted to go out for some mindless fun. And by mindless fun, she meant picking someone up. She wanted nothing more than to try and forget the two people who seemed to be plaguing her thoughts, Tori and Beck. Both of them brought out strong emotions in her and right now she felt like a storm of them was raging inside of her.

She knew Beck was not going to be at Scarlett's party tonight as he had a audition early in the morning. But she knew Vega would be there. Oddly that didn't displease her, even though she wanted to get her mind off the Latina. Such an odd contradiction, Jade thought. I want to get her off my mind, but yet I don't. Jade thought, perhaps she could entice the Latina to speak to her. Win this bet once and for all.

A few minutes later Jade was starting her car, dressed to kill and ready for some fun.

"Ready or Not, here I come." The Goth said as her lip's curled into a smile.

An hour later the party was going at full swing. Scarlett Thompson had a large house, complete with pool in the back. As soon as they arrived Trina vanished into the crowd leaving Tori to her own devices.

She soon found Andre, but he told Tori that Robbie had asked Cat on a date earlier and had decided to go to the movies together.

"Yea, after Cat got Rex back, Robbie was so grateful that he finally got up the courage to ask her. Surprisingly Cat said yes. They may show up later." Andre had told Tori.

Tori and Andre hung out for a bit but, he soon got to talking to a girl named Jennifer and they seemed to connect. Feeling like a fifth wheel, Tori politely excused herself and left Andre and Jennifer talking in the living room.

Toir wandered around the party for a while, just seeing what there was to see. Deep down she knew perfectly well, she was looking for Jade.

She eventually spotted Jade stumbling up the stairs from the basement. She appeared to be extremely drunk. As Tori moved closer to the top of the stairs and looked down at the Goth, it appeared that she may not even make it up the stairs at all.

But in all of that, all Tori could think of is how beautiful Jade looked. It felt strange to Tori as she just watched Jade. It was like she couldn't keep her eye off the stumbling drunk Goth. She even felt her heart begin to beat faster. Part of her wanted to help Jade, but she felt paralyzed.

As Jade reached the top of the stairs she glared at Tori for a moment and grunted. All Tori could do was continue to stare like a deer in the headlights. After a moment, Jade just walked away normally, in the direction of the patio.

It was then, Tori realized that Jade was making yet, another attempt to try to goad her into talking or helping her. What bothered her more was her strange reaction to seeing Jade. But for the moment she pushed it aside and went down into the basement to see what was going on down there.

Tori spend about 45 minutes in the basement rec room talking with some of the girls and guys from band. Many were well on their way to getting drunk. Tori, not really wanting to get drunk, was in the process of nursing her 2nd beer of the night.

But eventually her curiosity got the best of her and Tori decided to see what Jade was up to. She made her way upstairs and out onto the crowded patio around the pool. On the far end, near a clump of tree's Tori saw something she couldn't believe.

It Jade talking with a guy and not just any guy. It was Ryan Parkhurst of all people. Ryan was an acting student at Hollywood arts. He was about 6"2", short sandy brown hair and completely built. He was an avid surfer and on top of that very handsome.

But that wasn't the most amazing part. It was the fact that Ryan's girlfriend was Morgan Tate. Morgan was pretty, had long blonde hair was also a student at Hollywood arts. Tori had her in honors choir. The thing is, that if Jade was the meanest girl in school, Morgan was the 2nd meanest. She was also the richest, spoiled and most stuck up in the school, her father being the CEO of a huge electronics firm. It was said when she was 16 she got a pink Porsche for her birthday, but wouldn't accept it as it was the wrong shade of pink. So her father promptly got her the one she wanted, no questions asked.

Jade and Morgan, like the two biggest predators in an ocean simply ignored each other. Each content to feed in their own part of it. But Tori watched plain as day, as Jade laughed and flirted with Morgan's boyfriend. He seemed pretty drunk but, Jade was certainly keeping his attention.

"Holy Cow, talk about trespassing in someone else's yard." Tori said to her amazement. Tori realized that the entire night she hadn't seen Morgan or the rest of her clique at the party. Thinking back, Tori remembered overhearing Morgan talking in Honors choir to one of her friends. They were going to see this new band down in Long Beach tonight. That meant Ryan was strictly solo and had become Jade's prey.

The pair was off to the side and no one in the crowd by the pool paid them any attention. The only pair of eyes on them was Tori. After a minute or two, Jade put her hand on Ryan's arm and said something in his ear. The pair then slowly walked down a path which Tori guessed led behind the pool house that sat on the far end of the pool.

Tori just had to see what was going on, she couldn't help herself. She felt this feeling of unpleasantness just seeing it all, but she had to know what was going on.

So she justified by saying to herself. "I'm just going over there and if I just HAPPEN to see or hear something, than so be it."

So Tori quietly crept around the pool house to see the pair leaned up against the back wall making out. It was hard to see in the dim moon light, but it was unmistakably Jade and Ryan. From her vantage point behind a tree Tori watched. The whole scene was both fascinating and disgusting all at the same time.

As Tori watched, she felt an unexpected sure of anger surge up inside of her at the sight of Ryan and Jade making out. The whole scene for Tori, was just unwatchable, it made her stomach churn just watching it. She suddenly remembered how she felt when she saw Cat with Daniel, how all she wanted to do was put a stop to it. But the bet suddenly came to mind and Tori realized there was absolutely nothing she could do. The combination of anger and disgust was too much for her to handle and Tori angrily walked back to the house.

She grabbed another beer and sat down in the living room. She was hoping to forget what she saw by talking to Andre but he was gone.

Tori just sat there drinking and about 15 minutes later Tori saw Jade coming in the house, by herself. There was an odd look on her face, kind of like the cat that ate the canary. Just that expression, bothered Tori. From her chair in the crowded living room, Tori watched as Jade calmly walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms. From her vantage point she could see Jade disappear into one of the bedrooms right at the top of the stairs.

Tori's heart began to race, though she didn't quite know why. About 2 minutes later, Ryan himself comes slowly walking into the living room. He walked calmly up the stairs and exactly as Tori expected went into the same room that Jade had just gone into.

Tori didn't know what she was feeling. The questions swarmed through Tori's mind like angry bees. "What's going on with me? She said to herself. "I want her to be my friend, I've always wanted her to be my friend. But why do I want to be her friend so badly? Why do I put up with her? What's so different about her?"

Tori had to know more and walked outside where a number of people were talking on the front porch. Once outside, Tori looked up to the windows of the bedroom where Jade and Ryan were. After a few seconds the lights in the room went out. Immediately going inside, Tori saw no one coming out of the room.

Sitting down again, Tori reminded herself that it was none of her business and there was still a bet. But the sudden anger had caught her off guard. She tried to distract herself, by chatting with a few of the other Hollywood arts students sitting nearby.

Trying to keep her thoughts off of what Jade was doing upstairs, Tori kept engrossed with the conversation around her. About 15 minutes later, Tori spotted some movement outside through the front window.

Besides the people on the front porch, Tori could see a group of 4 girls walking up the front sidewalk. It was Morgan Tate and her friends, The Hall twins, Lisa and Lori and the last member of Morgan's clique, Brianna. Tori quickly guessed that their plans to see some band in Long Beach must have unexpectedly changed.

Tori looked up to the bedroom where she knew Jade and Ryan still were and back to Morgan who was chatting with someone on the front porch.

At this point Tori knew she had two options. One, she could run upstairs, pound on the door and yell, Morgan's here. Thus warning them and giving them time to cover up their activities.

The other option would be to abide by the terms of the bet and do nothing. Stay out of Jade's business, as she had so strongly requested.

After a brief moment of indecision, where Tori thought about all the tricks and how angry she felt. she got up and looked towards the bedroom. "Jade you are on your own."

Not wanting to be connected with anything that may happen, Tori decided to leave immediately and headed out the back door. She wanted to be out of the house before Morgan and co, entered it.

There she ran into Robbie and Cat, who had just arrived. "Hey Guys, could you do me a favor and take me home? I'm getting a bit of a headache and don't feel so well."

Robbie nodded. "Sure Tori we'll take you home."

As they moved to the door to go through the house, Tori motioned to the walk that went around the house. "Let's go around."

As the trio moved to the walkway, Tori spotted her sister by the pool talking with some friends.

"Guy's I'm telling my sister I'm leaving. Just give me a sec."

"Kay Kay" Cat said.

Tori ran up to Trina and whispered in her sister's ear. "Hey sis, I'm leaving but I need you to keep your eyes and ears open for me."

"Why?"

"Fireworks may soon be going off and I don't want to be blamed for any part of it."

Trina smiled. "What firework's? Come on tell me?"

Whispering again. "Jade is in an upstairs bedroom with Ryan Parkhurst and Morgan Tate just arrived."

Trina just laughed. "Holy fuck! I'm going to go inside and get myself a front row seat."

"Just be nonchalant about it and don't tell anyone. If you do, that could cause me to lose the bet." Tori warned her sister.

Trina patted her sister on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I got your back. I'll let you know if anything happens. See ya."

"Thanks Trina." Tori said as she left.

It was about 2:30 in the morning when Tori felt herself being shaken awake, a dark figure was sitting on her bed.

"What?" A sleepy Tori said?

"It's me Trina, wake up."

Tori sat up in bed and turned on the little light on her nightstand. "Why are you waking me up?"

"Don't you want to know what happened? I just got back from the party."

Suddenly Tori remembered. "Oh my god, did something happen?"

Trina smiled. "Oh Boy, did something happen. So I make my way into the living room and park myself in a corner. A few minutes later I see Morgan and her buddies come in. Instantly Morgan starts to ask if anyone's seen Ryan. The first few people she asked, didn't know but eventually she found someone who saw him going upstairs into one of the bedrooms. All of a sudden she gets the suspicious look in her eye's. Sure enough she goes upstairs and burst's in the bedroom."

Tori couldn't wait to hear what happened next. "Come on, what happened!"

"All of a sudden a light goes on. There is some shouting and I hear Morgan scream, Jade you whore. Then there was more screaming and yelling. At this point Scarlet, her boyfriend and his friends all rush upstairs to see what was going on. A moment later, Morgan comes downstairs one hand round her boyfriend's wrist and the other over her eye. I'll tell you Tori, she looked pissed beyond belief. Morgan, Ryan and her friends were escorted out by one of Scarlett's friends. Jade came down right after and left and was escorted out. Jade actually looked, kind of pleased for some odd reason. I have no idea why."

"So what exactly happened?"

"Well afterward I talked with Scarlett. I guess Jade and Ryan were just about to reach 2nd base when Morgan burst in. She called Jade a whore, Ryan said he was drunk and Jade took advantage of him. Jade put her top back on and after Morgan called her worthless cunt, Jade punched Morgan in the face. Scarlett kicked all of them out at that point, before anything else could happen."

Tori felt bad she didn't warn Jade, but the Goth wanted her to say out of her business. So she did. "My God."

"Well, I'll let you get back to sleep; I'm tired and need to crash. Thanks for the heads up." Trina said as he left Tori's room.

Alone, Tori turned off her light and crawled back into bed. Just thinking of Jade and all that happened tonight, made falling back asleep difficult. Too many questions and thoughts were running through her mind to sleep.

But one thing was certain, she was actually kind of happy that Jade and Ryan were disturbed before they could do anything.

As she lay in bed, Tori could only help but smile.

**Another chapter for you nice people. I'll tell you, there are half a dozen stories here where I would kill to get an update. But sadly, I don't think I will ever see one as i suspect the've been abandoned. I don't want to embarrass anyone so I won't name any names. But all I can say is, please don't give up on your stories people. Even if you are busy, just keep going at what ever pace you can manage. People like me are waiting for the next chapter and really enjoy seeing that new chapter notification. Sorry, I just felt the need to say that. Unfinished stories are a giant pet peeve of mine. I may not be the best writer here, but you will always get an ending with me. **

**But Jade did get herself into a bit of trouble hasn't she. Tori could have warned her but chose to stay true to the bet and let Jade be discovered with Morgan's boyfriend. **


	7. The Morning After

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 7 – The morning after.**

**No one's Pov**

After being escorted from the party, Jade decided to call it a night and went home. Generally she was rather pleased with the results. Though her one regret that she didn't actually get to have Ryan before everything hit the fan.

Jade was on the prowl the moment she got to the party, looking for just the right person to have some fun with. She felt this need to conquer someone and prove that she was tough and desirable. She also wanted to get both Beck and Tori out of her mind. She knew that Beck would not be there but figured Tori would be. After messing about the party for a bit, Jade spotted Tori near the top of the stairway to the basement.

Seizing the opportunity, she faked being stumbling drunk going up the stairs. She was hoping that Vega would help her before she "Fell". But oddly Vega just stood there at the top of the stairs, looking at her. Jade found her reaction to be a bit strange, but it didn't bother her. In any case her little trick didn't work and Jade just went out on the patio.

A few minutes later the spotted what would be her prey for the night. It was none other than Ryan Parkhurst, the surfer boyfriend of uber bitch Morgan Tate. Jade always thought Morgan was a no talent, rich girl who only got in because her daddy bought her way in. Though Morgan never bothered her, she would occasionally make fun of Cat.

Morgan frequently referred to Cat as Dingbat. Another thing that Morgan would make fun of is Cat's bike, saying it looked almost as stupid as its owner. Cat being the kind soul she was, never made any fuss of Morgan's teasing. All she would do is smile and turn the other cheek. Though Jade knew of the teasing, Cat forbid Jade do anything bout it. Saying it would accomplish nothing. But a few weeks ago Mr. Purple, her stuffed Giraffe, who in the front basket of the bike at school one day was beheaded. The Body was left in the basket and the head itself was gone. Cat was very hurt by her favorite childhood stuffed animals death, but tried to take it in stride and moved on. Though she could never prove it, Jade knew perfectly well that Morgan did it. Just the odd grin on the mean girls face that day told Jade all she needed to know. Besides her own motivations, Jade saw a perfect opportunity for a little payback.

Jade spent a few minutes observing Ryan who was standing by himself by the pool. After a few minutes Jade determined that he was alone as either Morgan or one of her clique showed up. Morgan is a bit possessive herself and if she's not with Ryan, usually has one of her friends "babysitting" him. She could also tell that he was a, which only made it easier. So Jade put on her best smile and slowly walked over to him. Jade didn't care if Morgan found out and guessed that she would eventually anyway. It would humiliate the rich bitch rather nicely, Jade thought.

"Like to walk around like you own Hollywood Art's do you Morgan. Well we will see who owns what. Especially, when your precious Ryan is calling out my name during sex. I'm queen Bitch and don't you forget it." Jade said aloud to herself, as she closed the distance between her and Ryan.

Jade like a true predator, came up directly behind Ryan who was watching the crowd. She put her hand on his shoulder and widened her smile. "Hello Ryan, good to see you."

It was easier than she anticipated. Through the right combination of flattery, flirting and the occasional touch to the arm or shoulder, Jade soon had him eating out of her hand.

Eventually she leaned in and whispered in his ear. "I know you want to kiss me! So come with me and stop wasting your time."

She lead him back around the pool house where soon enough they were making out. Though he wasn't quite her type, Jade was pleased as punch.

As she kissed him Jade heard a sound from nearby. It sounded like someone walking. Opening a single eye she glimpsed what she thought was movement by one of the nearby trees. Jade had no way of proving it, but she knew exactly who was watching. For some reason that pleased Jade even further to know Vega took such an interest. Wanting to give the girl a real show, Jade closed her eye and deepened the kiss.

A moment later she heard what sounded like someone quickly walking away. Jade felt an odd jab of disappointment to hear Vega leaving. "I wonder if something about this bothered her." Jade thought, much to her amusement.

At this point, Vega being gone, they arranged to meet in one of the bedrooms in the house with Jade going first. They met in the bedroom and began to make out. Jade decided to take her time with this one as a 2nd chance was very unlikely. In the one disappointment of the night, Morgan burst in before any of the real good stuff happened.

She burst in the room and snapped on the light, a look of shock and anger on her face. Jade just looked at Morgan with a smirk that said. "What ever you have, I can take away from you."

"Ryan what in the fuck, are you doing with her?" Morgan bellowed, as she stormed in the room.

Ryan, who was very drunk, stumbled off the bed and began to button his shirt. "I'm sorry, she took advantage of me. I'm so glad you're here."

"Jade you whore" Morgan screamed at Jade, who was putting on her top with an amused smile. Seeing Morgan freak out was worth the price of the interruption, as far as Jade was concerned.

The smirk returned to Jade's face. "Hey I was just showing him a good time. Besides, you left this poor boy unattended, I was just keeping him warm for you. That and I had to protect him from all the other girls that wanted to fuck his brains out. Looks like you owe me a favor."

Morgan, now furious, got right in Jade's face. "You worthless Cunt!"

As it turns out, that word was the only one you could call Jade that would actually piss her off. So a moment later Jade punched Morgan in her left eye. A collective gasp came from the lips of Morgan's friends who were all standing outside.

"ALRIGHT! ALL OF YOU OUT! NOW!" Yelled Scarlett from the doorway. She was flanked by her boyfriend and two of his friends. They were all football players and were rather large.

For a moment, Morgan stood there seething as she put her hand over her eye. But realizing that Scarlett and her friends meant business grabbed her drunk boyfriend and left. One of Scarlett's friends escorted Morgan and her friends out.

"Wonderful Party Scarlett, I had a great time! Thank you. Your hospitality is outstanding. You must do this again." Jade said, as she casually walked out of the room. Another one of Scarlett's friends escorted her out.

Even though she had been interrupted and kicked out, Jade was very pleased with herself. She had humiliated Morgan and at the same time, suspected that she got to Vega. At the same time Jade avenged Mr. Purples death. Though she couldn't help but feel an odd bit of disappointment that Tori didn't make any attempt to warn her of Morgan's arrival. That was if she was aware of Morgans arrival, but Jade suspected she did know.

After that, Jade went home and called it a night. She gave little thought as to what Morgan would do to get back at her. Jade was confident that she could handle anything that was tossed her way. If Morgan had the balls to actually try anything.

The next morning Jade made a point to call Cat. She wanted to inform Cat of her actions but at the same time try and clear the decks as things had been strained since Jade made Cat cry last week. Cat had been a friend a long time and it bugged Jade to be on Cat's bad side. A strange voice answered the phone at Cat's grandma's house where she was now living.

"Hello. Who is this?" The strange female voice said.

"This is Jade, I'm looking for Cat, I'm her best friend." An annoyed Jade, said on the phone.

"This is Sam her, new best friend. You do realize it's only 8:30 in the morning or is telling time not your strong point?"

Feeling insulted Jade's blood began to boil. . "How am I supposed to apologize when i have to deal with some Gank who's replaced me as her best friend." Jade thought quickly.

"Just put Cat on!" Jade snapped.

After a moment sam returned to the phone. "Sorry bub, She don't want to talk to you. Later loser." And then the phone went dead.

"Grrrr…." Was the only sound that Jade made as she quickly redialed the phone.

It took several tries and hang-ups before this Sam person relented. Jade had no intention on giving up. Jade got the impression that Sam was protective of Cat which Jade had respect for.

"Fine, she's said she'll talk to you." An annoyed Sam finally said.

A moment later a very tired sounding Cat finally answered the phone.

"Yes Jade?"

"Who is the Sam person and why didn't you tell me about her?" Jade asked quickly.

"She's my new roommate, she just moved 2 weeks ago. I don't know why I didn't mention her. She just never came up. Why are you calling Jade?"

"How come she's your new best friend. I'm your best friend." Jade said defensively.

"Really Jade, you got me up so we can bicker over who is who's best friend."

"No….Cat I called because I'm trying to apologize for making you cry last week and tell you that…" Jade started to say before Cat cut her off.

"Look Jade, that was real mean of you. I'm just not sure if I really want to talk to you right now." Cat said, sounding like she was about to hang up.

"At least hear me out. I avenged Mr. Purples death last night and I did it for you." Jade blurted out.

Cat's the tone of Cat's voice suddenly dropped and became slower. "Jade, what exactly did you do to Morgan?"

"I ran in to Ryan Parkhurst last night at Scarlett's party and seduced him. Morgan found out and she was pretty humiliated and very pissed off. I messed with her to get back at her for you."

Cat sighed. She was touched that Jade did this for her but she didn't approve. "Jade, I told you that getting back at would accomplish nothing."

"I did it for you."

"But you didn't need to Jade. This is just going to start something else. Mr. Purple wouldn't want a war in his name."

Jade thought for a second for the right reply. "Look I know. I just couldn't help myself. Beck broke up with me last night and I'm pretty scrambled right now. I was wrong last week in making you cry. That was mean of me, well meaner than I usually am and you didn't deserve it. I need to keep this between me and Vega."

There was a pause for a moment then Cat spoke. "She asked us to take her home last night, just as we arrived. Oh…I shouldn't have said that. I don't want anyone to lose the bet."

"What time?"

"I'm not sure if I should tell you?"

That made Jade fairly certain that Tori knew that Morgan had arrived and left probably right about that same time. Jade guessed that Vega didn't want to be accused of causing this and left. She did feel a stab of disappointment that Vega didn't warn her.

"Never mind Cat. Look I'm sorry about all of this. I doubt she'll mess with Mr. Longneck now. Please Cat, accept my apology."

"Answer one question for me Jade. Honestly"

Jade had a sneaking suspicion this was about Vega."What?"

"If you win, are you really going to drive Tori out of school? She is my friend too, you know."

"NO!" Jade said, without the slightest hesitation. The speed and truthfulness of her answer, surprised even Jade.

"Jade, sometimes you're a complete gank, but I'm proud to have you as a friend. Apology accepted." Cat never liked holding grudges and it felt good to be back on normal terms with Jade again.

Jade couldn't help but smile. "So am I you're best friend again?"

Cat let out a groan. "I'm going back to sleep now! Good by Jade." Cat said before hanging up.

"I'm still her best friend, no matter what this Sam says." Jade said to herself, as she hung up the phone.

Jade spent the rest of the weekend studying and catching up on homework. Though during it all she would frequently wonder what Tori was thinking when she, if it was actually she, thought when she saw her and Ryan making out. She knew that this would probably get back to Beck, but threw was nothing she could do about it.

Much like Jade, Tori spent the remainder of her weekend studying. However she did manage to take and pass her drivers test that Saturday. Her father took her car shopping for a while but they couldn't find anything that Tori really liked that was in her price range. Mr. Vega promised to take her another day.

As part of her project she spent a lot of time listening to the album she had been assigned; Pink Floyd's The Wall. Though it wasn't her normal type of music, she found it to be quite well. The albums message of isolation, was one that even she could relate to. The songs, Young Lust, Mother and Comfortably Numb being her favorites.

Jade of course wasn't too far from her mind. It kept running through her mind, how angry it made her to see Jade and Ryan making out. She just didn't know why.

Morgan on the other hand, was both humiliated and angry beyond belief. Her own ego wouldn't let her except the fact that her chosen boyfriend would cheat on her willingly. She instead blamed it largely on the Evil Jade taking advantage of her drunk boyfriend. Oh she was angry with her boyfriend and would make him suffer in her own special way, but he remained her boyfriend. She made him do his fair share of groveling and begging of forgiveness before she let him know she was not going to dump him. Though she had planned to do it all along, she just wanted to see him grovel.

"Let's set her car on fire!" her friend Brianna said as Morgan's clique sat in her back yard, by her pool.

Lori Hall started to interject. "No, let's…." But her suggestion was quickly cut of by Morgan who had been silently brooding.

"Do nothing and make Jade think she has broken me and Ryan up. Make her also think that the loss of this relationship has completely devasted me. In other words, Make Jade think she's won, so she'll drop her guard." Morgan said as her lips curled into a rather evil looking smile.

"Then what?" The other Hall twin, Lisa Asked.

"If circumstances work out and I think they will, lure her right into a trap."

"You have an idea then, Morgan?" Brianna said as she took a drink of beer.

Morgan's evil smile widened. "Oh yes. I'm going to destroy her."

**Well it appears that Morgan will not be taking this laying down. Jade has made up with Cat and Tori has a license and no car. Hope you all liked the chapter.**

**Until next time….**


	8. A different viewpoint

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me. **

**The Bet**

**Chapter 8 – A different viewpoint.**

**No One's POV**

After much begging and a promise to clean her sisters room later that evening, Tori was allowed to drive Trina's car to Hollywood arts. So as she drove up to the school, Tori was grinning ear to ear. It was a bit childish, but Tori felt Cool as she slowly cruised into the parking lot. As she drove in, a figure in black out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

It was Jade wearing a black and green top with a black mini skirt, lace legging and boots, walking across the parking lot. Tori found herself starring at the Goth, much like she had on the stairs at the party. She just looked so nice, Tori just couldn't take her eyes off Jade's form.

"TORI!" Trina suddenly yelled, causing Tori to slam on the bakes and come to a screeching halt.

"What?" Tori said quickly to her sister.

"What? You were too busy looking at Jade ass and didn't notice you were about to hit a parked car, you moron."

Across the lot, Jade looked over to see where the sound of screeching tires was coming from. Much to her amusement it was from Trina's car, which had at the steering wheel. At the moment Trina was yelling at Tori, probably because she was about to hit a parked car.

Trina began to yell louder causing her voice to carry across the parking lot. "First you run over a traffic cone and now you almost hit a parked car. Did you actually pass your test or did you just flash your boobs at testing person."

Jade at this point who heard that little exchange, burst into a hysterical fit of laughter.

"It was only one traffic cone and it didn't harm the car." Tori said defensively as she pulled the car into the space.

"News flash, you're not supposed to hit traffic cones Tori."

Tori ignored her sister for a moment to see Jade again. Much to her humiliation Tori could see the raven haired girl was doubled over in laughter, causing her to turn beet red.

As Tori and Trina got out of the car, Trina gave her sister a death stare. "If you trash my car because you were starring at Jade's ass again, I'm going to kill you."

Tori huffed and yelled back at her sister. "I was not starring at Jade's ass." About a second later, with a horrified look on her face, Tori stuck her hand over her mouth.

Tori couldn't even think of looking in Jade's direction as she could hear the Goth's hysterical laughter intensify. After Jade finally stopped laughing, she couldn't help but wonder if Vega was actually looking at her ass. Oddly, the thought didn't bother her.

"Oh my god." Tori said as she put her hand down.

Trina rolled her eyes as she began to wonder just how deep Tori's interest in Jade actually was.

"1st period hasn't even started and you've managed to humiliate yourself. I think that's a new record for you. By the way, I'm driving home. I want my car to stay in one piece."

Reluctantly, Tori glance over at Jade, who was still laughing uncontrollably. In fact she was laughing so hard, tears were coming from her eyes.

As she opened her locker, Tori saw Cat bounding up in the corner of her eye. "Hi Tori" Cat said cheerfully.

"Hey Cat, What's up?"

"Oh I just wanted to say hi." Cat then bit her lip and paused for a moment. "Can I ask you a question?"

Tori pulled a book from her locker. "Go ahead."

"The party, did you know what was going on? Is that why you wanted to leave so quickly?"

Tori put her head down and took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled it through her mouth. She then looked up at Cat. "Yes I did. I saw Jade and Ryan going up into the bedroom together. About 15 minutes later I look out the window and see Morgan and her friends coming up the walk. I did have time to warn Jade, I could have pounded on the door and yelled Morgan's here. But we have a bet and Jade's a big girl. I left when I did as I didn't want to be accused of having any part of anything that happened."

Cat appeared to think for a moment. "I see. Let me ask you this. If there wasn't a bet, would you have warned her?"

"Does it really matter?" Tori said casually as she closed her locker. That question stirred up all kinds of thoughts in the Latina. Her fascination with the Goth, the anger she felt at the time, so she tried to brush the question aside.

Cat shrugged and seemed to accept the answer. "I'll tell you one thing, the latest is that Morgan dumped Ryan and she's crushed by him cheating on her."

Tori though she wanted to, didn't feel all that bad as she never really like Morgan. "Are you sure?"

"It's what I heard, but I did see her for a second this morning across the parking lot. She looked really depressed."

"Hmm…" Tori didn't really know what to say or think, so she just said she had to get to class and left. A second reason she wanted to leave was the appearance of a still laughing Jade on the other side of the hallway.

The rest of the morning went as normal. Though at lunch a carefully rehearsed scene was played out near the food truck.

A sad looking Ryan attempted to talk to a rather depressed Morgan. She just slapped him in the face and told him to go back to his whore. She then burst into tears and ran into the school. It was a very dramatic scene that was put on largely for one person's benefit; Jade west.

Jade only paid half attention to the drama but still found it rather amusing. However she didn't pick up on the fact that the whole scene was staged. But neither did anyone else. A good chunk of the school didn't like Morgan so the drama was well received.

Tori just shook her head and continued to eat. But not before taking a moment to look at Jade on the other side of the lunch area. At that moment Jade looked over at Tori and they exchanged inquisitive glances. Each one at the same moment was doing the exact same thing, trying to figure out what the other was thinking about.

Of course each one was thinking of the other and that trend would continue over the next few days. Though she half expected Jade to try another trick the Goth did nothing. Jade deep down was starting to really miss talking to the annoying Latina. She contented herself by stealing an occasional glance, but as time went on it became more than occasional. Jade thought of trying a trick on the Latina, but she really didn't feel like doing anything mean to her. Her heart just wasn't in it.

Morgan was also on Jade's mind but not as much as Vega. Jade expected some sort of payback for her little escapade but over the week nothing materialized. The whole week Morgan acted depressed and sullen. Occasionally she would give Jade a dirty look, but did nothing. By Friday Jade was fairly certain nothing would happen.

**Tori's POV**

I was a bit surprised by Thursday that Jade made no attempt to trick me. It was actually rather disappointing. But regardless of whether she tried anything nor no the Goth remained firmly on my mind. As I think more about Jade, my feelings about her seem to be more complex and incomprehensible. Why was I so mad to see her with Ryan? Why is it about that makes me want to be her friend? Why do I seem to want her approval? The questions just kept flowing.

By Friday I decided to talk with someone a bit removed from the situation to get their opinion. That and I just felt the need to talk to someone who wouldn't blab to Jade. So I contacted my friend Carly Shay. I had to time it right or I might end up contacting her in the middle of the night. So I chose before I went to school, it would be midafternoon where she was. We had remained friends since the incident where the discovered we were both dating the same guy Steven. Ever since we've trading emails, texts and talks on splash face. She lives in Italy now with her dad.

Finally I made the connection to Carly on splashface and her face appeared on my screen.

"Hey Tori, How's it going" She answered.

"Good, Carly, have you mastered Italian yet?"

"Only enough to find the bathroom and to say my friend Sam isn't here." Carly said with a laugh.

"You'll get it, eventually."

"Hey isn't Cat Valentine your friend?"

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"Because my friend Sam moved in with her not too long ago. Did you know Tori?"

A look of profound surprise appeared on Tori's face. "NO"

"I guess Cat is her best friend now. What am I, chopped liver?" Carly said, sounding a bit irritated.

The corner of Tori's mouth curved up into a smile. "Someone sounds jealous?"

"I'm still her best friend, I don't care what anybody says."

"You tell em Carly"

Carly sighed for a moment, I just miss having Sam around. Though now I can leave stuff in my fridge and not have it eaten in 5 minutes. So what else is going on?"

So I explained the whole circumstances of Jade and I, from the time we first met to today. I had mentioned Jade before in passing, but not in detail.

"This whole thing is…I don't know, confusing." I said after my story ended. "I just thought I would talk to someone a bit removed from the situation. I hope you don't mind."

Carly appeared to think for a moment. "She sounds like a one of a kind person."

I smiled and nodded. "She certainly is."

Carly laughed, "If I didn't know better I'd say you're totally crushing on her. You like her, admit it Tori?" She teased.

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurd thought. "No, I think it's just this bet that's gotten to me."

Carly shrugged. "Perhaps and I'll bet you have finals coming up soon, maybe that's on your mind. It's all stressing you out."

We talked for a bit more and then I let her go as she had some chores to do. I had to finish getting ready for school anyway.

But as I kept getting ready one thing that Carly said, kept running through my head. "you're totally crushing on her"

It seemed like such an absurd thing when Carly first said it. I just laughed it off. But each time I thought that, it seemed less and less absurd. By the time I was in the car heading to school, I began to wonder if Carly was right. Jade's always had an effect on me, no one ever has.

After we parked I got out of the car and looked over the parking lot. Even before I thought of it consciously, I knew I was looking for Jade. As I thought for a moment I realized, she's always the first person I look for.

A moment later I spotted her getting out of her car. As I studied her hair, lips, hips, breasts, skirt, boots I found my heart beating faster. It was then I realized, much to my shock, that Carly was right.

I do have a major crush on Jade.

**No One's pov**

While Tori was dealing with her sudden revelation, the subject of Tori's crush was walking into the school. But before she could make it in, she was stopped by Brian Hartman. She had him in a few classes and he was a talented musician. They had worked together on a project last year and she found him to be mildly interesting. His specialty was the guitar and he was quite good.

"Hey Jade?"

Jade stopped and took a sip of her coffee. "Brian."

"Hey I'm having a party Saturday night, my parents are out of town. It should be a fun time, I even have a DJ coming. Would you like to come, all are welcome."

Jade thought for a moment, another party sounded fun. She had heard his last party was a pretty big success. Maybe I could find someone and not get interrupted, Jade thought. "Sure, why not." At the same time, the first thought after that was.

"Hey great. I'll see you there." Brian said with a nod before he walked off.

A second later Jade took another sip of her coffee and walked into the school, wondering if Vega would be at the party.

A moment later a person who was standing very nearby where Jade's and Brian's conversation took place turned around. She had her back to the pair and happened to overhear the conversation. It was Briana, Morgan Tate's Best friend.

A wide smile grew on her face as she pulled out her phone to send a text.

To Morgan: I just overheard, as you hoped, Jade is coming to Brian's party on Saturday.

A few seconds later Morgan's reply came.

To Briana: Absolutely Perfect.

**I'm not 100% happy with this chapter but I didn't want to stall on it anymore. I hope it's not too bad. I would like to thank everyone again who is taking their time to review this story. Thank you very much.**


	9. That's a hell of a swing

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 9 – That's a hell of a swing. **

**I have a long but important chapter today. You'll get to find out what Morgan has in store for Jade. **

**Tori's POV**

"How on earth could I have a crush on Jade?" the thought came speeding through my head like a runaway train. She's mean, ganky, cruel, uber talented, self centered, stunningly beautiful, possibly mentally unstable and as I thought before one of a kind. Of course the kicker is that she's a girl, though there are few terrified freshman who are convinced she is simply a demon in human form. The Jury's still out on that.

"Am I Gay?" That question came flying through my head, right after the previous question. I stood there for a moment watching Jade speak with Brian Hartman and indulged my thoughts. She was beautiful, that goes without saying but what else? I found myself starring at her boobs. Oh my god, when ever I look at Jade, her boobs are the first think I usually look at. How could I have been so dense to not see that.

All of a sudden all I can do is think about her boobs, their big and nice. I wonder how firm they are. Oh my god, now I'm obsessing on Jade's boobs. All of this was too much too fast, I could feel my head starting to hurt.

I could see Jade finish talking to Brian and walk off. But before she walked into the school she turned to look at me. Unfortunately at that very moment I happened to be gawking at her with my mouth hanging open. For a moment our eyes met from across the parking lot. I could feel the piercing gaze of her blue-green orbs suddenly pierce my soul. It gave me a tingly feeling through my entire body. All I wanted to do was to touch her.

"Yep, I'm gay alright."

I'm not sure how my realization compares to others but there I was standing in a parking lot and realized what I had been too dumb to figure out all along. I can't say I really know what this is all about. Boy's are nice but no one has ever felt me feel like Jade does when she merely looks at me. For a moment Jade kept starring at me. She had a curious look and looked sort of puzzled. It was as if she was trying to figure me out. But a second later the spell was broken when she shook her head and rolled her eyes. She then casually walked into the building.

I spent the day thinking about Jade and my sexuality. I was trying to figure out just how deep my feelings run. It was a bit confusing to say the least. For once, I was glad she wasn't able to talk to me. If she did, I'm pretty sure I'd just melt. I ran into Brian Hartman myself a bit later and he invited me to his party on Saturday. I had some family coming over on Saturday from out of town, but I said I'd be there afterward.

There was odd incident near the end of the school day. I was alone in the 2nd floor bathroom when I heard two people enter. They must have come into check their makeup and wash their hands as they went to the sinks. I could see some movement through tiny gap between the door and the rest of the stall.

"We all ready?" I heard one female voice said.

"It's all set." The 2nd voice said with a laugh.

"What about the…." I heard voice number one said but she stopped talking. I think they noticed me.

"Come on let's go." Voice #2 said.

A moment later they were gone. It seemed an odd conversation that halted the 2nd they noticed they were not alone. I couldn't place the voices at first, but it suddenly dawned on me. It was Briana and one of the hall twins.

Now they could have been talking about anything from a trip to the beach or a project for science class. But there was a remote possibility that it related to Jade. But it was nothing more than a tiny fragment of a conversation, so I dismissed it. I think my mind was overtaxed by all my thinking about Jade.

But my feelings aside, there remains one question. Later on the evening it hung on my mind like a fog, obscuring everything else. Could she ever like me? She professes to hate me. She stated she would run me out of school. If I won this bet, I could make her spend some time with me. Show her that….I'm not sure what I would show her. She already knows I'm nice and frequently mocks me for it. But sometimes like today, she looks at me with a look where I see now scorn or hatred. There's something else which I can't fathom. I can only hope she would like me.

Saturday, I spent with my aunt, uncles and cousins who had come in from Texas. We took them to the beach and then had a huge dinner at home. I did find out that Beck and Andre would not be at tonight's party for varying reasons. Cat and Robbie may show up but they weren't sure. I was still looking foreword to the party anyway. I wanted to ask if Jade was coming but I didn't. I do know she likes a good party and figured she might. I still couldn't help what that little exchange meant.

I wanted to get to the party early, it was starting about 9, but my parents wanted me to stick around and visit with my relatives. They were nice but a bit boring; Trina wanted to get out of there as well. But until they left, I was firmly stuck at home.

**No one's POV.**

It was a little after 10 when Jade found herself at the basement of Brian's party. It had a good crowd, some from Hollywood Arts and some from Northridge. Finals were starting soon and a lot of the students were trying to get a last good time in, before they had to hit the books.

Jade hat been at the party about 45 minutes and had put down 3 glasses of beer already. There was no sign of Cat, Robbie or Vega. She had heard Andre and Beck wouldn't be coming. Another group she looked for was Morgan or her clique, but there was no sign of them either. So Jade got herself another beer and headed down to the basement rec room where she heard there was a full bar.

While in the basement, Jade spotted something that caught her eye. It was a girl wearing a Scissoring Jacket, standing at the bar that ran along one basement wall. Jade guessed it was one of the crew Jackets that crew members wore on movies. Jade wanted to see if the girl would sell it, she had to have that Jacket.

"I love your Jacket." Jade said as she walked up to the woman. She was high school age and had brown hair.

The girl looked at the jacket and smiled. "Thanks. I love this movie. My ex boyfriend got it for me from his neighbor, who was one of the sound guys on the film."

Jade smiled and extended her hand. "That's really cool. I'm Jade by the way."

The girl did the same and smiled. "I'm Jessica."

Had Jade not already been drinking and a bit more observant she would have noticed a slight resemblance between Jessica and Morgan Tate. That was because Jessica was actually Morgan's cousin, Alyssa. The jacket had been purchased from a movie memorabilia store that morning. Everyone, including Morgan knew of Jade's Sissoring obsession. Morgan knew that the Jacket would be the perfect bait. As "Jessica" and Jade started to speak about the movie, there was another thing she didn't notice.

It was the young man standing on the other side of Jade, putting some drops of something in her drink. "Jessica" noticed it of course, but she knew it was going to happen all along. It was all part of the plan.

**Tori's POV.**

I wasn't able to get out of there until 10:30 when my relatives finally left. I got my friend Trina to drop me off at the party. She was going to a dance club with her friend molly. I told her I'd call a cab home or get a ride from one of my friends.

Something about that conversation stuck in my head. Maybe because I kept thinking about Jade and was worried that it was about Jade. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had nothing to go on and if I said anything, it may be considered getting in Jade's business.

I got to the party a little before 10:45 and found it in full swing. Brian's house was packed full of people having a good time. I took a look around the house and the back patio for Jade but there was no sign of her. Cat and Robbie hadn't shown up either. I didn't see Morgan or any of her clique as well.

I grabbed a beer and began to relax. Nothing looks like it was going to happen, I thought. I then went to find somebody that I could talk too, when near the back stairs I heard a familiar voice. I peeked from around a corner and on the stairs to the basement I saw a girl wearing a scissoring Jacket and one of the hall twins. I wasn't sure which one. Suddenly got very suspicious and made my best effort to listen without being seen.

"Be careful, did anyone notice you?" Asked the girl with the Jacket.

The twin shook her head. "No, I'll be out of here in a second. Is everything ready, Morgan wants to know."

"Yeah, I've got West, tied to a chair in the greenhouse they guy's parents have. She's out cold. My Boyfriend Jacob is out there now. Did they get the shears?" The girl with the Jacket said with a smile.

I peeked a bit more and saw twin pull out a pair of electronic shears. It was the kind you use to shave someone's head. She showed it to the jacket girl and shove it back in her bag.

"Jade's going to look so lovely without any hair. Come on, let's go. Morgan wants to get started right away, she and the rest are waiting for you to show her where Jade is." The twin said.

Shocked, I backed up and hid in a closet until the two girls left. I couldn't believe what I heard. Morgan and her buddies must have roofied Jade and now they are going to shave her head. A surge of panic hit me and I tried to think.

Once again I have a choice. Stay out of Jade's business and let her head get shaved bald or do something to stop it. I like Jade and even though she may not like me, I'm not going to let this happen. Not to a girl I like. I knew Brian's parents owned their own plant nursery and had 3 large greenhouses in the back of their property; they must have had Jade in one of them. I was going to lose the bet but I didn't care.

As I stepped out of the closet, I realized I needed a plan. As I was about to shut the closet door, I spotted a golf bag in the corner of it. Who knows how many there would be, so I pulled out one of the irons, just in case. It was a 7 iron.

I made a quick look around to see if I could see Cat or Robbie but couldn't see them. I was on my own. I headed out the back door and down the path that ran to the green houses. It was lit by a string of lights. No one else seemed to be out back here, so I knew I was really alone.

I found the three greenhouses. The first one was dark and empty, save for rows of plants. The second one as I entered I heard some voices. They appeared to be coming from a storage room in the back. As I walked down the greenhouse I spotted a sliver of light coming from a door that was open a crack.

I'm not sure why I thought of it, but I pulled out my phone. I thought maybe I could film this and have some evidence or something. So they can't say I made this crap up. I peeked in the slightly open door to see a storage shed. It was filled mostly with flower pots. Tied to a chair in the center was Jade. Her head was down and appeared to be asleep. Standing around her, their backs to me was, Morgan, Briana, the hall twins, The girl with the jacket and another guy with long brown hair.

Carefully I put my phone up to the crack and began to record video.

"You don't look so tough Jade!" Briana said with a sneer.

"Ok, I want to go over this one final time. We need to get this done perfectly. With the roofie's we gave her Jade, should be out a couple of hours. Even if she wakes up she won't remember shit." Morgan said with an authoritative voice.

I couldn't help but think, what the hell are they going to do with her besides shave her head? I suddenly got a very bad feeling.

Morgan began to speak again. "By tomorrow Jade will be not only bald but sitting in the LA county Jail facing drug charges. We are going to shave her head, put this nice pink wig on her. Then we take the drugs I have in my backpack, some oxy, a brick of weed, a couple of ounces of coke and we will put it in her hands. Remember to use the rubber gloves I have. We need Jade's fingerprints only on these items. We put some of the drugs in Jade's purse and some hidden in her car. Hide it; don't leave it in the open. It shouldn't be too obvious for the cops. Then we take her to that tight turn in Harrison Park, the one where you would end up in a rain gully if you miss it. We put Jade behind the wheel and push her off the road into the rain gully. It's dry now so she won't drown. Sound good so far?"

Tori heard a chorus of yes's

"Then we anonymously report to the police that we saw a driver first driving erratically then go into the rain gully. That's only 4 blocks from the nearest police station. They will check it out. The police will find Jade passed out behind the wheel. They'll think she passed out while driving and will find drugs in her purse. They will then search her car and find the brick of weed and about several ounces of coke. It will be just enough coke to get her charged with "Possession with intent to sell" I had to sacrifice some of my own stash from home, but to get rid of this whore permanently it's more than worth it. By the time Jade wakes up in the morning, she won't be up shit creek, she'll be at the bottom of it."

"Won't she say you framed her? You will be her primary suspect." Asked the guy.

Morgan gave Jade a condesending look. "She can say it's me all she wants, I already have 20 witnesses lined up that will swear that we were at a party in Malibu, all night. We all snuck in the back. No one eve knows where here."

"Best witnesses that money can buy." Joked Briana.

Holy fuck, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Morgan is totally nuts. I thought they were just going to shave her head. The whole scheme is a bit hair brained, but being the daughter of a cop I know it's just dumb enough to work. If it does, Jade's life is ruined. She'll get at least 10 years in prison. Just hearing that made me furious. Regardless if Jade likes me or not, this is not going to happen. Screw the Bet.

"First before we start, I think I'll take a little keepsake." Morgan then took Jade's pair of scissors and snipped off a lock of hair which she put into plastic bag.

**No one's POV**

After putting her phone away, Tori flung open the door and burst in the room. She made a point to hold the golf club behind her leg.

"OK People, party's over. Step away from Jade, no one is touching her." Tori yelled out while, trying to look tough. Tori was angry, but very nervous at the same time. After all she was facing 6 people alone.

Morgan's face twisted with anger as she stepped forward. "What are you going to do about it Tori. There are 6 of us and one of you."

Tori thought for a second and gave her best "Evil grin". "You know my dad loves to golf. He keeps boasting about having a 7 handicap. I'll tell you though, I don't have the slightest clue what that means. But I do know one thing about golf. It's an easy game to pick up, because all you have to do is SWING." Tori thought of her best action movie type saying and went with it.

Tori in one fluid motion, moved the golf club up, gripped it with both hands, stepped forward and swung it right in front of Morgan's head. Tori intended for the club to go in an arc about a foot from Morgan's face. In the hopes that would scare the girl enough, to get her to back down.

However, because she misjudged the length of the club and stepped forward, her arc was a lot closer to Morgan's head than she intended. Had Morgan not moved her head back slightly, the 7 iron would have smashed nicely into her left temple. All it did was swing about half in inch in front of Morgan's eyes.

Morgan, thinking that Tori had just tried to take her head off on purpose, completely panicked. She let out a blood curdling scream and ran out the back door of the storage room. The others seeing Morgan running for her life, followed suit and took off as well.

A moment later Tori found herself in a room all alone, except for Jade. She was slumped over, still tied to a chair. But realizing she had nearly taken Morgan's head off, sank to her knees as she dropped the golf club.

"Oh my god, I just wanted to scare her. I nearly took her head clean off." Tori said as she waited for her racing heart to slow down. Nearly taking Morgan's head off scared Tori herself more than it did Morgan. In fact Tori's hand's were still shaking. "Some action hero I turned out to be." Tori said to herself.

After a moment Tori was able to collect her wits and stood back up. "Jade, you had better be worth it. Because I just pulled your ass out of a fire, you started."

The first thing Tori did was to grab a rag and ran the golf club back to where she found it. Tori then used the rag to wipe the club clean of prints, before heading back.

Arriving back at the greenhouse Tori put her hands on her hips and addressed the unconscious Jade. "You are something else are you. You just had to go after Morgan Tate's boyfriend. Stir up a nest of hornets, why don't you. You're just lucky I happen to have a major crush on you or I might have left you at their mercy. All you lost is this lock of hair." Tori then took the plastic bag with the lock of hair in it and shoved it in her pocket.

"Now get your sleepy carcass out of here. But I can't carry your fat ass to your car can't I. Yes Jade, I referred to your ass as fat. What are you going to do about it?" After a brief pause Tori smirked. "I guess you won't go nothing about it and in all honesty, your ass looks kind of nice. I'm sort of new at this liking girls stuff, so bare with me."

In a corner, the Latina spotted her solution. It was a large wheelbarrow which Jade fit in, though her leg's would extend over the edge. Tori then untied Jade and place her in the wheelbarrow. Before doing anything else, Tori pulled Jade's keys from Jade's purse.

"Your in no condition to drive. You know what, that wheelbarrow suits you." Tori then pulled out her phone and took several pictures of Jade snoozing in the wheelbarrow.

Tori then lifted up the handles of the wheelbarrow and began to push. "Let's get you home."

**Morgan's plan may sound a bit stupid, but people have done stupider things for even stupider reasons. In Florida there was a case about 4 years where two girls were feuding over the same guy. He was sleeping with both of them, plus a 3****rd**** on the side. Not that he was worth fighting over as he seemed to be a total self centered Jerk. He was the type that had a habit of telling what ever girl he was with at the time that "She" was the one, just so he could get some. Well one of the girls decided to stab the other to death to remove her rival and now she's serving a sentence of 20 years to life.**

**Tori, not even realizing the depth of Morgan's plan, leapt in to save Jade, knowing she would lose the bet. What will happen next? Stay tuned to find out.**


	10. Danger is my middle name!

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, it's characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 10 – Danger is my middle name!**

**I refer to some old songs in this one, but it's all in good fun.**

**Tori's POV**

You would think one girl hauling a passed out girl in a wheelbarrow from a party would attract attention; it didn't. I just rolled Jade up the path, across the patio, around the house and too her car and no one even seemed to notice. Jade just snored the whole way.

As I rolled her up to the car, I briefly thought of giving her some payback for the coffee incident by making her ride in the trunk. But stupid me, had to fall for her and it just wouldn't seem right. So I dumped her in the back seat. Besides, she's probably already got a body in the trunk anyway.

So I rolled the wheelbarrow up to Jade's 2012 Honda civic and dumped her in the back seat. She had just gotten the car late last year and was very protective of it. After returning the wheelbarrow to the greenhouse I returned to the car and got in the drivers seat.

"I seem to recall you don't like anyone driving your car. Beck told me that you dated him a year before you let him drive your old car. I don't even think he's driven this one. Guess what princess." Jade would hate being called princess, "I'm gonna drive your precious car. What do you think of that Jade?. "I said with a smirk, as I started the car.

Sitting there I felt this surge of adrenaline, combined with a sense of triumph. I rescued the fair maiden drove off the pack of rich assholes and you know what, it felt good. At first I was scared because I nearly took Morgan, head off. Granted taking her head off would probably be an improvement, but not a real good idea. But now the fear has faded away and I feel great.

I threw the car in gear and burned rubber down the street. Another thing I'm fairly certain Jade would hate. I like her but, it feels great to get a little payback by doing some things that I know Jade would despise. Her car handled well and was pretty fast. It seemed a shame to just go home, after all it was a beautiful night. I had the windows down letting brisk evening air fill the car.

I called out to my unconscious companion. "Hey Jade, do you want to go for a ride? How about we take the scenic route? Of course if you were awake you'd say No, but you're not and you owe big time so let's drive down to the beach and back."

As I turned down the corner in the direction of the beach I suddenly realized. "Oh my god, we need some tunes."

It was then I could hear Jades voice roll through my head.

"Vega, touch my radio and you're dead"

She had said that, each of the 3 times I had ridden in her car. Though Beck was allowed to drive the car he was still not allowed to touch the radio. Jade was weird about that. It felt so fun to defy Jade.

I flipped it on and grinned. "Hey Jade, I'm fucking with the radio." Immediately some alternative/Goth station came on. I couldn't help but frown.

"Sorry guys, I need something more fun." I said, turning the station.

I flipped the stations until I heard the familiar notes of an old but fun song. One guaranteed to piss jade off to no end. "Holy chiz, this is perfect."

I cranked the volume and the song filled the car.

_Her name was Lola_

_She was a showgirl, _

_With yellow feathers in her hair _

_And a dress cut just down to there_

"That's right Jade, I'm playing Barry Manilow on the stereo in your precious car." I shouted. It was totally absurd but really funny at the same time. But I was enjoying the moment.

"Come on Jade, Sing with me." I said as I sang along to Copacabana. As the song ended I couldn't help but ask my unconscious companion. "Who do you actually think got shot in that song? He never actually say's. It's one of those great music mysteries. Kind of like the song, "Ode to Billy Joe" by Bobbie Gentry. Why in the heck did he jump off that bridge anyway?"

Jade's only reply, sounded like a snort of some kind.

"God dam it, we need answers." I said with mock seriousness.

I had found some station that was playing lots of 70's disco type music. It was their Saturday night disco party. Something Jade wouldn't be caught dead listening too. Actually I think she despised disco music. But she looked kind of dead so it thought, what they hey. It's all in good fun, right? My mom and I used to listen to this when I was a kid.

So with a passed out girl in the car I cruised down to the beach. While there I grabbed a shake, cheeseburger and fries at the Inside-Out Burger drive through. Another thing Jade was very clear about was food.

"Over my dead body, will you ever eat anything in my car. There will be no food in my car." That was said to me each time I was in her car also. As I drove up to the drive through window, the girl there saw Jade in the back seat and gave me a funny look.

"Hey is that Jade West passed out in your back seat." She asked.

I suddenly recognized her. "Hey you're in my english class. Becky right?"

She nodded. "You're Tori Vega, aren't you?

I smiled. "Yeah and to answer your question, yes that's Jade."

She tilted her head and stuck her tongue out at Jade. Obviously another one of Jade's many "Fans." I ignored the insult, figuring Jade probably deserved that one. "She looks dead!" Becky said rather bluntly.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You can poke her with a stick to see if you like, but sadly she's still alive, so doing that might not be the best of ideas."

Becky laughed. "Isn't carting her around in the back of your car not the best of idea's either?"

I nodded and handed her the money, "It would be and considering this is her car, it's an even worse one. I even touched the radio."

Beck just shook her head and handed me my food. "You certainly like to live dangerously."

A smirk came to my lips. "Danger is my middle name!" I said as I peeled out of the parking lot, to the sound of "Get Down tonight" By K.C. and the Sunshine Band.

So we headed back towards Jade home, listening to up-tempo disco music all the way. Jade just snored in the back seat, not complaining once. It was just so fun defying all of Jade's rules, I just couldn't help myself.

As we neared Jade's house I heard one of my favorite old tunes, considering it was a Saturday night it was perfect. It was Saturday Night by the Bay City rollers, a number one hit from that long ago year 1975.

SATURDAY night!  
SATURDAY night!  
SATURDAY night!  
SATURDAY night!

Gonna keep on dancin' to the  
rock and roll  
On Saturday night, Saturday night  
Dancin' to the rhythm in our  
heart and soul  
On Saturday Night, Saturday night  
IIIII just can't wait,  
IIII got a date

I couldn't help but dance as I drove. In fact while I was at a stoplight a deserted street I put the car in park, hopped out and danced like fool in the street to the ode to Saturday night. I was being a total goof but it felt great. As I danced in front of the car I could just picture Jade yelling at me to stop dancing in the street and get back in the car. But suddenly a set of headlights appeared several blocks behind me, so I quickly hopped in the car and drove off.

Soon enough I was pulling up in Jades' driveway to the sound of Macho Man, by the Village people. I did remember to put Jade's radio back to her precious Goth station.

"Well Jade, you're home. Let's get you in bed." I said as I looked up at the unlit home. First I ran and unlocked the front door. Then I grabbed Jade and put her on my back in a fireman's carry. God's she's heavy.

I had been to her house once before for a project, so thankfully I knew where her bedroom was. It was in the basement. I'd hate to have to find it in the dark in the middle of the night. So I managed to bring her in the house and dumped her on her bed. I quickly then ran back to the car, grabbed my food trash and Jade's purse and went back inside. The food trash I put in the kitchen garbage.

As I reentered her room, I half thought that maybe I could still win the bet. It was dumb idea and cheating, but I was getting a bit tired so my thinking may have not been all there. Jade won't remember anything. If I put her in bed, perhaps she'll think she just came home herself. In any case, it may give me a chance to think of what to do. She'll probably find out anyway but it's worth a shot. I'll deal with Morgan and her buddies later, I have all the goods on them I need.

Cat told me that Jade from the times she slept over slept in boy shorts and a t shirt. Sure enough there was a set of those on her dresser It felt a bit strange and a little thrilling to undress Jade but I just kept my mind on my work. Now wasn't the time to feel her up, it just wouldn't be right. So I quickly got her in her sleeping clothes, used a washcloth from the bathroom to wash off her makeup and put Jade into bed. To cover my presence, I threw her clothes in the laundry basket, put her boots neatly in her closet and hug her leather jacket up in the closet too.

After I got Jade in bed, I sat down in a chair and watched her for a brief time.

"I know you can't hear me, but I like you. I mean I really like you. I'm not sure about other women but I want to date you. You're beautiful, talented, dangerous, mysterious and I just can't stop thinking about you. I know I have a snowball's chance in hell but I can dream can't I. At least I get this chance to get this all off my chest." I said to the sleeping Jade.

The sound of her breathing was the only response I got.

Before I left, I couldn't resist to do a bit of snooping. I looked through her desk. It was filled with stories, journals, and partially written scripts. But in her closet I found a small box, the word memories, was written on the side.

I was hesitant to open it but, maybe just maybe it might give me some insight.

"Awww…to heck with it." I said as I opened the box.

Inside of the box were photographs, souvenirs and keepsakes. I knew Jade had known Cat since 2nd grade I think, so a lot of the things related to Cat. There were a few pictures of Beck and stuff related to him. At the bottom of the box there was a larger photo, it was in a simple frame and I couldn't believe it was there. It was a picture of her and me together for our play where she played my wife.

I was totally floored. Not only did she have the picture, but she actually put it in a little metal frame. All this time I thought I really meant nothing to her. I may have been wrong. Suddenly feeling very guilty, I shut the box and placed it back where I found it. I didn't feel like snooping anymore.

I suddenly felt like and intruder and realized I needed to go. So I pulled out my phone and called a cab. I was told one would be there in 10 minutes. In a minute, I would leave and wait for it outside.

Before I left the room I took a moment to look at the sleeping Jade. Could her and I ever be together? I had no idea. The picture did give me a bit of hope, but only a tiny bit.

"Goodnight Jade." I said with a sigh as I turned off the lights and left.

**No one's POV**

The room was now quiet and dark, the only sound being the soft rhythmic breathing of the sleeping Jade West. Tori had left the room as she had found it, with one exception.

Sitting on the floor next to the bed was a small gold heart. When Tori had put Jade in bed, the Goth unconsciously and accidentally pulled the charm free from Tori's charm bracelet. As Tori rode in cab home, confident her presence would not be noticed; she failed to realize one of the charms was missing from the charm bracelet she had worn tonight. Had she noticed she would have been very upset, as it was her favorite one. It had been custom engraved and was a gift for her last birthday from her parents.

The engraving read "Make it shine"

**Lyrics for Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers and Copacobana by Barry Manilow were used without permission.**

**This is a bit of a filler chapter, but a fun one. Tori enjoyed herself doing things she knows would piss off Jade. **

**I am so glad everyone like the previous chapter. I would like to thank all those that reviewed.**


	11. Clues

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, it's characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 11 – Clues.**

**No One's Pov**

The cab dropped Tori off, in front of her house, about a little after 1:30 am. She half expected no one to be up, but a light in the living room window said otherwise. Entering she saw her sister Trina sitting on the couch watching TV.

"How was the dance club?" Tori said, as she shut the door.

Trina frowned, "Molly was getting all the attention from the guys. They were all losers anyway."

Tori chuckled as she walked into the kitchen. "Better luck next time sis."

Trina gave her sister a suspicious look. "Judging by the grin plastered on your face, I take it you had a decent time. Let me guess, a guy found you interesting for more than 5 minutes."

Tori stuck her tongue out at Jade. "Snarky remarks, won't make me want to tell you what happened."

"So something did happen. What was his name?"

Tori pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and took a long drink. "It's not quite like that. You know how Morgan was acting all defeated and depressed since Jade's little stunt!"

Trina nodded.

"She was faking it. Probably trying to get Jade to drop her guard." Tori then raised her chin in triumph. "But thanks to ME, her little scheme was foiled."

Trina got up and walked quickly to Tori who just leaned against the counter. "Come on, tell me what happened. "

"Well I heard one of the Hall twins, talking Briana Friday. it was something about "Is everything ready." That made me suspicious. So at tonight's party, I keep my eyes peeled for Morgan or her clique. Sure enough I see one of the hall twins talking to another girl. I evesdropped and heard about how they were going to shave Jade's head.

Trina put her hands up as in prayer. "Please, please tell me that Jade is bald, Please!"

"Ahhh…NO!"

With a pout, Trina walked back to the couch. "I'm not sure if want to hear this anymore. You spoiled all my fun."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Trina rolled her eyes in response and huffed. "Fine."

So head to the greenhouse in back where they say they have Jade stashed. I hear them in a storage room and an idea struck me. So I taped it." Tori tossed Trina her phone. "Just watch the latest video.

Trina found the video and began to watch. As she did, the older Latina's eye's slowly bugged out. The Video ended and Trina looked at Tori in amazement. "Holy crap, Morgan's a total psycho. That stupid plan of hers could have actually worked. Jades a total gank, sending her prison is just plain nuts. What happened next?"

Tori then told the story using her hand gestures to tell it. "I had this golf club I had found in the house. I burst in the room and faced them down. Morgan confronted me and I swung the club out in front of her. I got a little closer to her face than I intended. That scared the piss out of her and she took off, her goons quickly followed."

Trina cracked half a smile. "Just how close were you to Morgan's face?"

With a cringe, Tori said. "About an inch!"

Trina just burst out laughing. "Holy Chiz Tori. You burst in, nearly take the bitches head off an rescue the Gank in distress. That's some pretty fine work. Kicking ass and taking names. What in the heck did you do for an encore?"

Tori blushed slightly. "Well I dumped Jade in the backseat of her car and took if for a little Joyride. I went to the beach and got a burger from Inside-out burger. I even listened to Disco music in Jade's car. After that I took Jade home, put her in bed and covered up all traces that I was even there."

Trina started to laugh even harder this time. "Oh my god Tori, what are you going to do next? Tame a lion or something. But I'll tell you, Jade owes you big-time. She doesn't even deserve one quarter of the kindness you've given her."

A nervous look flashed across Tori's face all of a sudden. "Um..Trina I like her." Tori said timidly.

Trina looked confused for a moment. "Of course you like her, otherwise you wouldn't want to be her friend so much."

Tori's cheeks turned red. "No Trina. I really like her, as in I want to date her. I'm…I'm…I'm gay"

For a quarter of a second Trina thought her sister was kidding, but quickly realized that was not. A sober look then came to Trina's face. After a brief pause as she thought, Tina began to speak.

"I kind of half thought you might really like her. But why her? If you want to date a girl, why don't you pick one that's not a total loon."

"SHE'S NOT A LOON TRINA! STOP CALLING HER NAMES" Tori suddenly barked at her sister.

TRINA put up her hands defensively. "Ok, Ok, I'll lay off your girlfriend."

Tori suddenly seemed to slump slightly and deflate. "Like that's ever going to happen."

Trina put her hand on Tori's shoulder. "My feelings aside, she's a hell of a talented person. I'll even admit that, not to her face or anyone else for that matter, but I'll admit that. I still don't know what you see in her but there must be something worthwhile. You're not a total idiot."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?" Tori asked quickly.

"Yes. But in all seriousness, I am really proud of you. You did the right thing. I think you should show Jade, so you can forget this stupid bet and at least be friends. Then you may have a chance. You also need to tell dad about this. Morgan needs to be stopped, she's a total wacko."

Tori bit her lip and remained silent for a few seconds. "I'm just not sure what to do at the moment."

"Look just get some sleep and this will all seem clearer in the morning."

Tori nodded. "Thanks. So it doesn't bother you that I'm gay?"

Trina shook her head. "No, it's your choice in females that has me a bit worried. Just be careful. I'm going to bed now, good night."

With that Trina slapped her sister on the back and went upstairs, leaving Tori alone with her thoughts.

* * *

Jade woke with a start and suddenly sat up in bed. That turned out to be a grave error as the sudden motion made her head feel like it was spinning. On top of that, she had a splitting headache.

"Shit, sat up too fast. Oh god." Jade said, as she put her hand's to her head.

A moment later she realized she was in her own bed in her own room. It would have been a comforting thought, had she remembered how she got there. But Jade had no idea how or when she got home. The only thing that came to mind, much to her severe annoyance, was a bit of an old Barry Manilow Song which seemed to be firmly stuck in her head.

_At the Copa ,Copacabana _

_The hottest spot north of Havana_

_At the Copa, Copacabana_

_Music and passion were always the fashion. _

"What in the hell happened last night. Fuck! How in the hell did I get home? That ain't good." Jade said with a groan.

Jade lay back down in bed and searched her memory, it was oddly blank. The last thing she clearly remembered was talking to a girl with a scissoring Jacket. Jade found the memory gap to be rather unsettling. Jade could only wonder how much she actually drank.

"I'm amazed I made it home in one piece."

Jade sat up again, but much more slowly and let her eyes adjust to the little light that was coming from around the edges of her heavy black curtains. She could see it was 11:14 am. This wasn't the first time Jade had woken up hung over, but this time it felt different. She had never had a memory gap like that before. It bothered her, but Jade just assumed she drank more than normal.

After a few minutes of getting her bearings Jade got out of bed and turned on her light. Everything looked very much as it should be. Jade noted she was even in her normal sleeping clothes. After trip to the bathroom and downing two aspirin, Jade felt slightly better. She had nothing planned that day and thought of working on one of her scripts.

It was then she noticed something, it was her Jacket. It has been hung up in the closet as normal but it was zipped up.

"I never zip my jacket up" A startled Jade said to herself.

Again the memory gap came back, something felt wrong. Jade would hang her jacket in the closet each night but she never zipped it up. So Jade suddenly realized as a sense of panic started to form inside of her, that someone else may have been there.

It all made sense; everything is in its place, her dirty clothes, her boots and the Jacket. Jade quickly thought, if I was so drunk that I didn't even remember, then why did I take the time to put everything away so neatly. I would sober but not if I was shit faced drunk, was the conclusion that Jade came to. Jade suddenly felt her sense of panic intensify, as she feared that someone had done something to her.

Jade rushed into the bathroom and checked herself all over, for new bruises, cuts, scratches anything that would indicate some kind of assault. But there was nothing, her body seemed very much like it was. Still that didn't do much to calm her.

"Cat? Beck? Possibly." Jade muttered as she picked up the phone.

She first called Cat.

"Hey Jade. What's up." The red haired girl said cheerfully over the phone.

"Uh…strange question Cat. Did you take me home last night? From the party and Brian's house."

"Sorry…I was on a date with Robbie. We never even made it to the party. Why?" Cat said sounding concerned.

"Never mind. Umm…I'll call you later Cat. Bye."

"Shit." Jade said as she ran her hand through her hair. "It might have been Beck."

At that point, Jade dialed Beck. Jade was really starting to feel scared.

"Jade?" Beck said sounding puzzled.

"Beck, I have a strange question. Did you take me home last night from Brian's party? I really need to know."

Beck could sense the panic in Jade's voice. He also knew that Jade didn't panic often, but when she did she really panicked.

"You don't remember coming home?" He said in calm reassuring voice.

"No I don't. In fact there is a huge gap in my memory."

Despite the fact that they were broken up, Beck wanted to help. But he couldn't. "No Jade. I'm really sorry. I was on a date last night My date and I went to a carnival in Long Beach."

Jade felt a stab of pain in her heart, hearing that last sentence.

"Oh." Jade said quietly.

Beck instantly knew that Jade sounded a bit hurt. She was always a jealous girl and feared this would happen.

"Do you think anyone assaulted you? Are you OK?"

"I'm fine Beck. Look I've got to go" Jade said tersely as she hung up the phone. She was too worried about herself and just didn't want to think Beck and his date at the moment.

"My CAR!" Jade said quickly. "Where is my car?" Looking around she spotted the keys next to her purse on thedesk. She needed to see if it was outside. So Jade threw on some sweats, grabbed the keys and headed outside. Much to her relief, her car was parked in its normal spot and appeared to be undamaged.

Hoping to learn something she opened the door and looked inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That was until she spotted something on the floor of the driver's side.

Jade's blood began to boil when she saw it was a french fry. She got even madder when she spotted a glob of ketchup on the floor only a few inches away.

Holding the French fry up to her face, Jade growled at it. "Someone not only drove me home but ATE IN MY CAR! I'M KILLING THIS MOTHERFUCKER!"

After ranting at the French fry, she took it inside. She planned to shove it down the throat of the person who dropped it in her car.

As Jade headed back upstairs, she thought of what happened to her clothes. Would they have a clue? A quick check of the laundry hamper revealed her clothes from last night, plus a wash cloth with make up on it. That was all.

Back in her room she checked her bed and smelled she sheets. She had just put clean sheets on her bed Saturday morning. She could smell herself, but nothing else.

Jade nervously paced back and forth in her room. She was trying to think, figure out what happened. But nothing came; she just kept drawing a blank.

"So someone who is a sloppy eater decides to take me home, wash off my makeup, put me in my sleeping clothes and apparently puts me into bed. Who in the hell does that?"

Frustrated she sat down in her chair, as she did she spotted a glint of metal on the floor by her bed. Jade got up and moved to pick it up, as it looked very much out of place.

A second later she grabbed it. The item was as small gold heart. It reminded her of a charm for a charm bracelet. But Jade never had one. Turning it over Jade saw an inscription.

It read, Make it shine.

Jade suddenly flashed back to the day at lunch where Tori showed off her new charm for her stupid charm bracelet. "It says make is shine. I love it." The Latina said that day.

Jade's sense of panic and frustration quickly turned to anger. "VEGA!" Jade quickly bellowed.

But then a cruel smile came to Jade's lips, as she realized the charms presence could only mean one thing.

"I WIN!"

**Lyrics for Copacabana by Barry Manilow were used without permission.  
**


	12. Humility

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 12 – Humility**

**An extra long one tody.**

**No One's POV**

"I win!" Jade said happily to herself.

If it wasn't for the fact that she was still terribly hung over, Jade would have jumped for Joy. She merely jcontented herself with the knowledge, that Vega would be her slave.

"Vega must have found me drunk and brought me home. How nice of her." Jade said mockingly "Too bad it's going to cost you. A bet is a bet and naughty Vega tried to hide her good deed from me, my only recourse it to thank her personally."

Jade put the charm down and headed towards the bathroom to take her shower.

"This is going to be such a good week for me."

* * *

Across town, Tori was sitting up in her room. Her parents were golfing with friends and Trina was, wherever Trina goes on Sunday. Since she got up, she kept thinking about what to do. Does she tell her dad what happened or just blackmail Morgan to leave Jade alone? She was heavily leaning towards talking to her dad, but she couldn't finally decide.

It was a little after 12:30, when her doorbell rang. Tori wasn't expecting visitors and was curious who would come by.

Tori's eyes grew wide as she opened the door and saw who was standing there. It was Jade of course, dressed in her customary black. But this time she was just standing there with a rather evil smirk. In her left hand she was holding up a french fry. What was even more shocking was what was in the other hand. Tori's heart sank when she realized it was the Make it shine heart from her charm bracelet.

Tori had never even realized she had lost it and guessed it had fallen off in the car or in Jade's room.

"Crap." Tori said, as a frown grew on her lips. But deep down, Tori knew that it was Jade that had a serious shock coming. So though she appeared depressed, she really wasn't.

"Would you care to explain these two items? The heart I found by my bed, the French fry I found in my car, along with a glob of ketchup. Neither of which are supposed to be there, but I know you'll be able to tell me."

"Jade I…" Tori started to speak, but was quickly interrupted.

Jade pointed to her car parked in the driveway. "You know what, since you decided to EAT in my car. You can clean it.. Inside and out. SLAVE!"

"But don't you…."

Jade shoved the keys into Tori's hand as she pushed past the Latina into the house. "Bucket, soap, sponges, rag's, glass cleaner and wax are in the trunk. Here are the keys. I'll be watching TV. When you're done, you can make me lunch."

A second later, Jade pushed Tori out of the house and shut the door. The door opened again for a moment. "Don't take all day. I'm getting hungry." Jade then slammed the door shut.

"I save her pale ass and what thanks do I get, I get shoved out of my own home." Tori said with a shrug, as she started to walk to the car. She had decided to actually clean the car and let Jade feel superior for a while.

Tori looked up at the house with her own smirk. "Enjoy your afternoon of smugness Jade, while I smile and be your happy slave. After I tell you what almost happened to you, we'll see who the smug one is."

So Tori got out the hose, the vacuum from the garage and washed Jade's car. It took about an hour do the job properly. Tori took care to do very good Job. When Tori was done, the car was clean, both inside and out as Jade requested.

Entering the house, Tori found Jade on the couch watching the scissoring.

"Is my Car clean?"

"Yes."

Jade just made a smug looking smirk. "Make me some lunch. I want a BLT."

"Uhh…I'm not sure if we have any…" Tori started to say before she was cut off.

"Don't care Vega, make me a BLT and give me some chips and an iced tea to go with it." Jade said dismissively.

You make it very hard for me to actually like you some days, Tori thought as she walked into the kitchen. Fortunately she had all the stuff she needed. So Tori being the dutiful slave she was, silently made Jade her lunch. She knew that she could wipe that smug look off of Jade's face in an instant, but just kept smiling.

Jade watched the movie quietly. Her single comment was.

"Don't burn the bacon. I hate burnt bacon."

As Jade's lunch was almost ready Tori began to hum the melody from Copacabana. Jade instantly got off the couch and got in her face.

"Vega, that song has been jammed in my head all morning. I take it, you're responsible for that."

"Would you like me to hum Mandy instead?"

"NO! I hate that song, plus Mandy's a stupid name anyway." After a moment Jade suddenly had a thought. "Oh my God, you not only ate in my car you turned the station didn't you." Jade said with a angry flare of her nostrils.

Tori widened her smile slightly.. "I did ask and you didn't object. I've been listening to Pink Floyd's the Wall, all week for my project. I wanted to hear something fun. So we listened to the Saturday night Disco Party on KTRE. They had a special salute to Andy Gibb. We listened to it all way to the beach and back."

Jade turned red. "BEACH!"

"That is correct."

"YOU TOOK ME AND MY CAR TO THE BEACH!" Jade yelled.

"It was such a lovely evening. I thought the night air would do you some good." Tori said innocently. She knew this was drive Jade buggo.

Jade just shook with anger for a moment. Then she barked. "Just finish my lunch."

Eventually Tori finished and was putting the final touches on Jade's lunch. All she needed to do was cut the sandwich in half. A few moments later Tori put the plate and glass down in front of Jade at the coffee table.

"Lunch is served Jade." Tori made a special effort to sound cheery as she said it. Tori knew that Jade wanted to see Tori complain or look miserable. Tori was going to be happy, smiling and accepting, for a while at least.

After Tori put the plate down she sat on the other side of the couch. Jade frowned and pointed to the floor. "Dog's aren't allowed on the couch."

Tori smiled again. "Am I to be Jade's dog?" Though it repulsed her utterly, Tori managed to sound enthusiastic about it.

From the slight frown on Jade's face, Tori could tell that her response isn't what Jade wanted. Without missing a beat Tori got down on all fours and parked herself right by Jade's feet.

Jade ignored Tori for a few minutes, while she began to eat her sandwich. With nod, Jade looked down at Tori. "Not too bad."

"Thank you." Tori responded. But a second later Jade lightly hit her with a rolled up magazine. "Naughty Vega. Dog's don't talk like humans."

Tori suppressed the urge to smack the Goth across the face and barked happily. Jade seemed mildy amused by Tori's display. Jade then held up a piece of bacon.

"I'll bet Vega is hungry. Would Vega like a nice piece of bacon?"

Tori smiled and pretended to beg as Jade held the piece of bacon just above her mouth. Tori held out her tongue waiting for Jade to drop the food. But a second later Jade tossed it over onto the floor.

"There's your treat Vega. Go and get it."

Still playing the part of happy slave, kTori on all fours went to the piece of bacon. Then she proceeded to eat it off the floor.

Jade just laughed at the spectacle, but deep down was puzzled why Tori was taking all of this with a smile. It was actually a bit annoying.

Just after she ate the piece of bacon off the floor, Tori muttered under her breath in Spanish.

"Vas a pagar por esto"

Tori then went back and waited by Jade on the floor while her movie ended.

Acting like she enjoyed it, Tori just smiled and remained in place.

"Come on, Tori's gotta hate this?" Jade thought as the credits for the scissoring came up.

"Ok, Vega play dead?" Jade snapped as a smirk came to her lips. Responding instantly Tori rolled over onto her back and put her hands and feet in the air.

Jade then threw her keys across the room. "Fetch Vega." After she did, Jade pulled out her phone and began to tape Tori acting like a dog. Tori of course was aware of the irony of the situation and pretended not to mind. It would only further enhance the lesson she was teaching Jade.

Tori on all fours hurried over to the keys, put them in her mouth and dropped them at Jade's feet. Jade then played fetch with a magazine and Tori promptly brought that back. Never once dropping her smile.

Again Jade thought to herself. "So she likes being my slave, let's see how long this lasts"

Jade them motioned her hand up. "Up Vega, Up."

Obediently Tori kneeled and put her hands up close to her chest, mimicking a dog standing up.

"Speak."

"Woof, woof" Tori barked without hesitation.

"Come on Vega, break." Jade thought to herself.

Tori did no such thing, though she found it rather degrading, Tori knew what she was doing.

"Come on let's go for a walk in the back yard."

Jade opened the back patio door and headed outside, with Tori following on all fours Jade walked slowly and quietly around the yard with Tori following. Jade just kept wondering why Tori would just keep playing along.

As they passed a tree Jade briefly considered making Tori go to the bathroom, but quickly dismissed the thought. She simply couldn't to that to Tori, in fact Jade felt a brief pang of guilt for even considering it. Dismissing the thought, she wordlessly led Tori back inside and turned off the video of her phone. It would be fun having a tape of "Dog Tori" Jade thought to herself.

Tori feared that Jade would make her pee outside and if she had Tori would have instantly told her how her life was almost ruined the previous night.

For another half an hour Tori kept up her appearance of being a happy dog. Not once showing any signs of distress or anger. As time wore on Tori began to notice that Jade's patience was starting to wearing thin. Jade wanted to see Tori, complain, beg to stop, fight back, do something other than cheerfully act like a dog. Tori knew that and had no intention of doing so. This was one contest of wills she was going to win.

At one point, she decided to be sneaky and lick Jade's hand, much like a real dog would. Jade was sitting on the couch, not paying attention when Tori walked up on all fours and began to lick Jade's hand.

"Ewww." Jade shrieked as she yanked her hand back. Jade's face flushed with anger as she had had enough.

"WHY AREN'T YOU FIGHTING BACK!" Jade screamed, her patience gone, as she jumped off the couch.

Instead of whining as Jade expected her to, Tori just kept playing the happy dog.

"Tori, stop being a dog. Why are you just taking this? I won and made you a dog and you just take it." Jade sputtered in frustration.

Tori stood up and crossed her arms in front of her chest, as a sober expression came to her face. "Because this victory is meaningless to you"

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?"

Jade got off the couch and walked up to Tori. "Aren't you mad, at least at yourself, that you interfered with my life and lost the bet? You should have just left me where you found me."

Tori's eyes darted to the side for a moment, then back to Jade. "That would have been very unwise" Tori made a point to sound calm and mysterious.

"Again Vega, what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Tori bit her lower lip for a moment. "I'll answer your question with a question. What is the last thing you remember?"

Jade thought for a moment. "I was talking to some girl in a Scissoring jacket. That and some strange dream about being tied to a chair."

Tori nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"What makes sense?"

"Your dream, that's all." Tori said, as she walked to the kitchen to start cleaning the pans.

Jade could feel her frustration begin to rise. "And just why does that dream make sense?"

Tori looked to the ceiling for a moment than back to Jade. "Probably because, you were tied to a chair when I found you."

Instantly that smug, somewhat angry expression on Jade's face vanished.

"What?" The Goth said in a low tone.

Tori nodded. "That's right, you were tied to a chair."

Jade walked into the kitchen, she didn't look very amused. "What the hell happened to me Vega?"

"Well it's more like, what didn't happen to you? Would you like some dessert? We have mint chocolate chip ice cream?"

"OK, Miss Smarty pant's what didn't happen to me."

Tori put a finger to her chin as if in thought. "Something that would have wiped that smirk off your face for between 10 and 30 years, I'd reckon."

Jade had a sudden sinking feeling, that something very bad happened. "Tori what happened to me?"

"Ok, I was wrong, it's actually not what didn't happen, it's more like Who happened?"

Jade took a step closer to Tori. That sinking feeling suddenly became a lot worse.

"WHO?"

To put it in the terms of "A Clockwork Orange" that movie you brought over to watch last year when Beck was out of town. A movie which was not even remotely a comedy as you claimed it was. But I digress; it was Morgan and her droogs"

Jade's jaw dropped open, but no sound came from it. Hearing Morgan's name sent a chill down Jade's spine. All week Morgan had been acting like she was totally broken. Now Jade knew she'd be suckered.

Tori walked over and picked up her phone. She then walked over and handed it to Jade and handed it to the stunned Goth.

"They roofied you. What you'll see on the video here, is what almost happened to you." Tori then hit play on the video and quietly went back to cleaning up the kitchen.

Jade watched the video in would could best described as a shocked silence, her face frozen into an expression of disbelief. After it finished Jade calmly put the phone down and began to scream at the top of her lungs in furious rage.

After the scream, came the rant. "That fucking bitch and her friends are dead! I'm going to rip out every one of their fucking hearts and Morgan, I'm going to chop off every one of her toes and fingers and shove them down her throat."

Tori let Jade rant for a minute more and then asked. "Don't you want to know what happened next?" That seemed to sober Jade up and calm her a bit. Jade then nodded.

"Well, I had a golf club and charged in there. Morgan stepped forward and I scared her off. The rest quickly followed."

Jade gave Tori a skeptical look. "How would you scare six people off?"

Embarrassed, Tori looked to the floor and mumbled. "I nearly bashed Morgan's skull in."

"What?" Jade said while taking another step forward.

"Look, I only meant to scare her but the club came a lot closer to her head than I mean to. She screamed and ran. With her gone, the rest followed."

"How close?"

"An inch."

Now that the initial rage had subsided, the gravity of the entire situation and what could have happened quickly hit Jade hard. Tori noticed how instantly Jade suddenly paled and wordlessly sat down.

"I need a drink." Jade mumbled as she lowered her head.

Tori went to the fridge, pulled out a beer, opened it and handed it to Jade. The Goth took the beer and took a very long drink from it.

"The girl in the Scissoring Jacket?" Jade said as she looked up.

"Bait, no doubt. I'd guess it was a friend of Morgan's or something. It would have to be someone you've never met before. They probably drugged you when you were talking to her. They would know you would want that Jacket." Tori paused for a moment and exhaled. "Actually, everyone would know that."

Jade hissed. "And stupid me, takes the bait, hook line and sinker. She then stood up, made two fists and pounded them into each side of her head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."

Jade then began to pace angrily back and forth. "Fuck, I should have known this whole, I'm broken over the loss of my boyfriend bit was just an act."

"She fooled everyone."

Jade then pointed to herself, looking even more angry. "I'm Jade West, I'm cynical and unbelieving I'm not supposed to be fooled like the rest of the simpletons."

Tori just stood there in the kitchen and said nothing.

"But now I fall for it, like a total fucking idiot."

"You're not an idiot Jade."

Jade ran he hands through her hair and took another drink. "How did you know about this anyway?"

"Umm…I overheard One of the Hall twins and Briana on Friday in the bathroom. They were talking about something being set. I wasn't sure if it was about you but I kept it in mind. At the party I made a point to look for Morgan and her pals. When I spotted one of the hall twins talking to a girl in a Scissoring Jacket, I made a point to eavesdrop. My suspicions were soon confirmed when I heard them talking about how they had you. I followed them to the greenhouse and taped the conversation. You know the rest. As much as I hate to say it, that plan could have worked. My dad's a cop, I know a few things about how cops think."

"And you save me." Jade said just above a whisper.

Tori pointed to Jade. "Here's the kicker Jade. When I over heard them talking about you they were only talking about shaving your head. I didn't even know about the drugs until after I got the greenhouse to rescue you."

Jade looked even more dumfounded. "So you lost the bet on purpose just because you didn't want me to get my head shaved."

"I'll admit the thought of you running around bald was kind of funny, but I couldn't let that happen. When I heard the rest of their plot, I knew I had made the right choice. If convicted you could have gotten 10 years in prison easy. Your future, your dreams, your life, all of those things would have been in ruins."

For a good minute Jade just sat there, starring off into space. Contemplating what could have happened to her, had Tori not gotten involved. She suddenly felt like a total shit for treating Tori like she had just done. Jade then got up, drained her beer and walked over to Tori. "But one thing puzzles me. You save me but then say nothing while I make you clean my car, make me lunch and let me treat you like a dog. Why?"

Tori gave Jade a rather sober look. "Consider it, a lesson in humility."

Jade couldn't help think about how arrogant she had been since the bet had commenced; today especially. But now she had been so thoroughly humbled when she thought about what could have happened, had not Tori saved her.

"Um…er…Tori.." Jade had begun to stumble on her words in trying to say what she was gong to say. It was hard for her to get it out but she knew she needed to. "I'm…I'm…sorry how I tr..treated you. Thank you." Without missing a beat Jade pulled out her phone and deleted the video of Tori acting like a dog. Tori knew Instinctivly, that Jade truely meant here apology.

As if Tori hadn't expected the sudden apology, she expected even less what happened next. Jade suddenly lurched forward and put her arms around Tori and gave her a hug.

Tori's mind suddenly went wild as she happily returned the hug. "Oh my god, Jade's hugging me. I could die right now and be happy." Just having Jades arm's around her was heaven, the smell of the Goths' hair was wonderful.

Then just as suddenly as Jade initiated the hug, she broke it and stepped back.

"Jade I've been thinking. As much as I know you'd like to shove Morgan into a meat grinder, I think we should talk to my dad. He'll be home soon." Tori then grinned. "Besides, it will be fun to watch all of Morgan's friends agree to testify against her for reduced sentences. You know that what will happen. All of her devoted friends will turn on her and she'll find out just how liked she really is."

A smirk of Jade's own formed on her face. "I like the way you think Vega. Just as long as I get to videotape her being arrested."

Tori nodded. "I think I can arrange that."

Jade walked back and patted Tori on the back. "Look, I won the bet but, don't worry. I plan to make this the best week for both of us. Well start it by destroying that rich psycho Morgan Tate."

**Vas a pagar por esto = You're going to pay for that**

**Just like to give another shout out to Invader Johnny for the original idea for this story and all of his great suggestions and help in writing it.**

**Kudos if you caught the Mandy joke.**


	13. Justice

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 13 – Justice**

**No One's POV**

Tori and Jade were watching TV when Tori's parents arrived home. Tori and Jade had discussed what they were going to say. Tori had to have a decent excuse as to why she was at the party in the first place. She would tell him that she was afraid that Morgan and her friends were going to do something to Jade. It was partially true, so that was good enough.

"Hello Tori, Hello Jade." Mr. Vega, said as he walked into the house, a golf bag hanging on one shoulder.

"Hello Girls. Mrs. Vega said coming in right after him. She too was carrying her golf bag.

After a moment Mrs. Vega gave Tori and Jade a puzzling look. "Wait a second, aren't you both not supposed to be talking to each other. That bet you told me about."

"Jade won the bet but, there's something that I need to speak with dad about."

Tori stood up nervously and approached her dad. David Vega, could see the look of nervous apprehension in Tori's eyes as she approached and quickly surmised that something was wrong.

"Dad, I need to talk to you."

"What do you need?" he asked cautiously.

"I was at a party last night and something happened."

"Are you OK? Did someone attack you?" Tori's mom quickly interjected.

"No, it was me" Jade said as she herself stood up.

Mr. Vega, put his clubs down and approached Jade. "What happened? Were you assaulted in some way?" David Vega, immediately guessed sexual assault as the most likely crime.

"I was roofied last night by some people. They were planning on framing me for drug possession. Tori got wind that something might happen at the party and came to see that nothing did. She was able to intervene and stop it from happening."

David looked at his daughter. "You stopped it?"

Tori took deep breath and began to explain. "Jade messed around last week with the boyfriend of a very rich, spoiled and mean girl. Her name is Morgan Tate. She in an attempt to get revenge, planned on drugging Jade. Then she would place the unconscious Jade in her in her car along with enough drugs to get her charged. I overheard something on Friday which made me suspicious. So I went to the party and overheard one of Morgan's friends saying how they had Jade drugged in a greenhouse. I went and managed to scare them off before they could do anything."

Tori then handed her dad her phone. But I videotaped them talking about their plans. You can see Jade tied to a chair, clearly unconscious."

David Vega watched the entire video twice, without saying a word. As he watched it, the color seemed to drain from his face. When finished, he put the phone on the table and began to pace while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Criminal conspiracy, attempted kidnapping, possibly kidnapping itself and various drug possession charges. All felonies." He said aloud to no one in particular.

He then looked at Tori, "Do they know you have this video evidence?"

"No, as far as I know I burst in the room and scared them off."

"What happened afterward?"

Tori looked to Jade then back to her father. "I drove her home and put her in bed. I took a taxi home last night."

"You said this girl Morgan, is rich? How rich?"

Jade answered. "Very. Her father is Edwin Tate, CEO of Tate Electronics. From what I've read, it one of the largest electronic firms on west Coast and a defense contractor no less.

That was not an answer David Vega wanted to hear. Rich folks, much like everyone else, didn't like their children being arrested. However, being rich, they could cause all kinds of problems for the police and the city. "FUCK!" He said out loud.

David then pointed to Jade and Tori, then grabbed the phone. "You two need to come down to the station house with me, right away. I need to talk to my captain and the district attorney right now!"

"Why the district attorney so soon?" Holly Vega asked.

"Because Edwin Tate, can hire an army of lawyers and this needs to be done by the numbers. No mistakes. From what I've heard, he's the kind of person who wouldn't hesitate to sue the city and the police for even suspecting his daughter was guilty of a crime."

So Tori and Jade hopped into David Vega's car and headed down to the police station. On the way Tori filled her dad in on the details.

"One thing you didn't tell me Tori. How exactly did you scare six people off?" he said as they neared the station house.

Tori cringed. "I was holding a golf club and swung it. That scared Morgan off."

David Vega gave his daughter a quick, but very disapproving look. "You didn't strike her at all didn't you?"

"NO!" Tori said defensively.

"Cause if you did, I'd have to arrest you as well."

Jade and Tori spent the next several hours giving statements, talking to police and the district attorney at one point. There was a lull as the police and the district attorney discussed the case and how to proceed, so the girls waited.

Tori and Jade had been waiting in the squad room when Tori's dad emerged from the meeting and pulled them aside into a interrogation room.

"So what's the score?" Asked Jade, as she sat down.

David Vega took a deep breath. "Well, they are going to go ahead with a full scale investigation. The first thing they will be doing is getting search warrants first thing in the morning. They plan to search Morgan Tate's car, her home, the homes of the 3 other identified suspects. This Briana and these Hall twins. I however will not be a part of this case. I'm too close and they want this to go without any hint of impropriety."

"When would they make an arrest?" Tori asked.

"They already have the video and that would normally be sufficient, but the D.A. wants a slam dunk. Only after the search warrants have been executed, will there be arrests. It could be as early as tomorrow."

A smirk grew on Jade's face. "Can you let us know, Mr. Vega? When they are coming to arrest her. I really want to see the look on her face when it happens."

"As long as you keep your mouth shut until it happens and to stay out of the way when it does. I'll let Tori know shortly before the police arrive. But you must keep your mouth shut."

"No problem."

"Good, I just need to tell my captain that I filled you in and then I can run you both home."

David Vega left and after a few seconds pause Tori looked over at Jade. "You do realize that if you kept your paws to yourself none of this wouldn't have happened."

Jade huffed quietly. "I knew you were going to say that! How am I to know that Morgan was a total psycho. I figured the worst that would happen is that I'd get the crap kicked out of me. But that leads me to my question Vega. You were spying on me that night weren't you."

Tori quickly averted her eyes and casually looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Perhaps in my wanderings during the party I MAY have accidentally seen you and Ryan making out. I quickly then took my exit leaving you to love birds alone."

"May have, you're full of shit Vega. But you knew that Morgan had arrived didn't you."

Tori took a deep breath. "I saw you and Ryan go into the bedroom. A short while later, I saw Morgan and her posse arrive. In the spirit of the bet, I chose not to warn you and stayed out of your business. I immediately left the party so as to not be blamed for anything that would happen."

Jade thought for a moment. "If we didn't have a bet, would you have warned me?"

Tori had given that much thought since that night and came to a single conclusion. "Yes, I would have. Actually looking back, I should have warned you. This is as much my fault as is yours. Because I wanted you to learn a lesson, I allowed all of this to happen."

After speaking Tori leaned back in the chair, a look of profound regret on her face. Ever since Tori had found out what could have happened to Jade, she felt a sense of guilt.

Jade leaned forward and looked Tori in the eye. "Forget it Vega. I was cocky and poked a sleeping tiger. I knew what I was doing and I knew it would cause trouble. Put simply, I put ass into the fire and you hauled my ass out of it. It's that simple.

The car ride home was quiet. Tori was thinking about Jade and her growing attraction to her. Looking over at Jade, Tori could see the Goth starring out the window, apparently engrossed in thought. Tori was happy that things had turned out they way she did. She had saved a now very grateful Jade, who seemed to be warming up to her. All of that gave Tori hope that Jade could feel the same way, but she tried not to get her hopes too high.

As they pulled up to the Vega home, Jade spoke to Tori's dad. "Thank you Mr. Vega. I'll be sure to let my parents know what happened."

"You're welcome Jade. Just don't hesitate to call if you need anything." Mr. Vega said as he got out of the car.

For a moment, the girls stood looking at each other in the driveway before one spoke.

"Hey Vega, I have an idea. Let's just pretend that the bet is still going, at least until the cops are coming for Morgan. If were not talking, she may think she's even more in the clear."

Tori nodded. "Sound's good. I'll have my dad call me just before they arrive and he'll let me know what they found.

"Look, I have to talk to my parents tonight. But I figure I owe you. Let me buy you dinner or something. How about tomorrow? Besides we can celebrate Morgan's arrest."

"I was going to look at cars with my dad, but we'll do it another night." Going out with Jade was much more preferable to Tori, than looking at cars with her dad.

Jade peaked an eyebrow. "You're getting yourself a car?"

"Just a used one. I have just under 2000 dollars saved up."

"Tell you what. We'll have something to eat and find you a decent car. Something that looks a bit better than your sisters rust bucket."

Tori smiled. "It's a date." It wasn't really a date but Tori couldn't help but say it anyway.

Jade chuckled and walked to her car. "Hey you missed a spot." The Goth said pointing to her car.

An extended middle finger was Tori's only reply.

"See you tomorrow Vega and Thanks." Jade said before she got in her car. Tori could sense real sincerity in Jade's voice as she said it.

The next morning was normal. Tori arrived at school and actually caught a glimpse of Morgan as she got out of her pink Porsche. Morgan looked confident and as if she hadn't a care in the world. But Tori just kept going and pretended she didn't see the doomed girl. While she didn't feel sorry for Morgan she felt a bit for her friends. Morgan bullied the members of her clique almost as much as everyone else. Everyone knew that Morgan like to keep everyone in line.

Morgan on the other hand was greeted by Briana and the Hall twins. But they all looked worried.

"What are you all looking so worried about?" Morgan barked.

"Tori knows?" Lisa Hall said.

Morgan scoffed. "Knows what? That we had Jade tied to a chair. She doesn't know spit. Besides, my paid witnesses will state that we were with them. Jade won't remember squat and ultimately it's our word against Tori Vega's. Who's going to believe that loser?"

"She nearly hit you, are you going to do something about that?" Briana asked.

"I'm not sure. She certainly needs to be taught to keep her nose out of other peoples business. I'll think of something."

"What about Jade? Won't she do something if she's told?" Lori Hall said.

"Lori, stop being a paranoid freak. You're pissing me off. Don't worry, I'm not finished with that bitch. In the mean time I just need to watch my back. If she so much as touches me, I'll make her severely regret it."

"Maybe you should leave her alone." Lisa Hall said nervously.

Morgan immediately got into Lisa's face. "NO, I say when this is over and it's not over. That Bitch is going down, do you hear me!"

Thoroughly intimated, Lisa dropped her head and said nothing.

Morgan then lifted her chin. "Remember, nothing's going to happen to us. They wouldn't dare." The thing is that Morgan actually believed it. The others however, were not so sure of their leader's confidence.

Tori proceeded with the morning as planned. She and Jade pretended the Bet was still on and didn't speak. Thought they exchanged a curt nod early in the day.

Jade was waiting for Tori to let her know that the cops found the goods in Morgan's house. More than anything else Jade wanted to see the expression on Morgan's face when the cuffs were slapped on her.. Jade, when she saw Morgan or her clique just gave them the standard dirty looks. All except Morgan, seemed to avoid her like the plague. Morgan just ignored her.

It was a few minutes into lunch when Jade got a text from Tori. They were still sitting at separate tables, pretending the bet was still on.

To Jade: My dad said police will arrive to arrest Morgan and co in less than 5 min. They found a good stash of drugs in Morgan's room. Lesser amts in the other girl's rooms.

Jade who was eating with Cat smiled.

"Cat, today's a good day."

"Why?"

"Because….We'll just sit and watch. Just keep an eye on Morgan Tate."

Cat frowned. "I don't like her, she killed Mr. Purple."

Jade got up and patted Cat on the shoulder. "Just watch."

With a confident smirk Jade casually walked up to the table with Morgan, Briana, and the Hall twins. For a few moments the Goth just stood there staring at Morgan. The others seemed to quickly grow nervous but Morgan just glared at Jade.

"I don't know what you want freak, but if you so much as touch me, I'll sue you and your family for everything you have West."

Jade nodded. "I figured you'd say something like that. But what I want, I'll tell what that is. I just want to see you and your little flock go down in flames. You think you could try to frame me for drug possession and get away with it? Are your that arrogant or just really fucking stupid?"

"She' knows!" Said Briana to Morgan with a worried look.

"Shut the fuck up Briana, she can't prove squat and there nothing she can fucking do about it.." Morgan quickly barked at her friend.

Jade crossed her arms, as her smirk widened. "You really should see the video Tori shot. The camera work is a bit shaky, but it does have this little Blair witch project vibe to it. It was quite informative, however."

For the first time, Morgan began to look scared as her face began to pale. "Video?"

Jade nodded. "Yes Morgan, the video of you calmly explaining your plan to frame me while you were in the greenhouse. The same video that gave the police all the probable cause needed to search yours, Briana's and the Hall twin's houses. They found all of your drug stashes."

Morgan could only gasp. But before anyone could say anything else, Jade gleefully said. "You're finished!"

"You told us nothing would happen, that we would be safe!" Screamed Briana at Morgan.

Lisa Hall, likewise got very angry with Morgan. "I never should have listened to you. You stupid Bitch!"

"God Dam You Morgan!" Barked Lori Hall.

"This is the beautiful part Morgan, right now your now ex-friends are desperately thinking of how they can get out of this and of course the first thing that will come to their minds will be to testify against you for a reduced sentence."

Morgan suddenly looked panic stricken and began to plead with her clique. "Come on guys, if we stick together we can beat this. They didn't look impressed and continued to scream at Morgan.

Jade then waived to the police that had arrived at the asphalt café. "Oh here officers. The suspects you are seeking are right here."

With that Jade pulled out her camera phone, stepped back and began to film. "Oh one more thing Morgan. I'm queen Bitch here and don't you ever forget it. Somehow I doubt you ever will. "

At this point 5 police officers walked up to the table. Two of them were plainclothes and 3 uniformed officers.

The older of the two plainclothes officers approached Morgan.

"Miss Tate", The older of the two officers said politely. "I'm Detective Willaway and this is my partner Detective Varian. We have a warrant for your arrest on the charges of conspiracy, attempted kidnapping and drug possession with intent to distribute. We also have arrest warrants for Briana Walters and Lisa and Lori Hall. You have the right to remain silent, anything that you say can or will be used against you in court. You have the right to an attorney and one will be provided if you can't afford one."

Detective Willaway then looked at one of the uniformed officers. "Officer Jordan, please take these women into custody."

"WHAT!" Morgan screeched. "Don't you know who I am?" Morgan yelled as the officer put handcuff on her. Jade reveled in the look of absolute horror on Morgan's face as the cuff's clicked shut.

Lisa, Lori and Briana watched in shocked silence as their leader was put into handcuffs. They were all too shocked and horrified to put up any resistance to the police, who put them into handcuffs as well.

The rest of the people eating in the asphalt cafe were stunned. To see Morgan Tate, one of the bitchiest and the richest girl in school being led away in cuffs was something that had to be seen to be believed. If there was one major difference between Jade and Morgan is that while Jade was widely feared, Morgan was widely hated. More than one student and a few teachers couldn't help but smile that day.

Jade just kept filming, as Morgan ranted how her father was going sue the police and have their badges. The police just ignored her and began to lead her away.

As the policeman led Morgan across the asphalt Café, Cat ran up and pointed at Morgan. "She killed Mr. Purple."

Detective Willaway looked at Cat with concern. "You're saying that Miss Tate murdered someone?"

Jade put down her phone and walked up to the officer. "Not someone, something, it was a purple stuffed giraffe."

Cat glared at Morgan for a moment and then looked to the Detective. "Book em Dano" Cat attempted sound tough as she said it, but failed miserably.

Jade just slapped herself on the forehead and quickly ushered Cat to Tori's table, where they sat down.

"Well Vega, we can scratch one Bitch and her followers." Jade said.

"What the…" Said a confused Andre.

"Well it's a long story, But I'll let the hero of the moment give you the details." Jade said as she gave Tori a pat on the Back.

"But who won?" Asked Robbie.

Jade smiled. "In a way, We both did!"

**I wanted to have this chapter out sooner but I've been busy and I also want to put out a quality chapter. I've been trying to put out one a day, but that probably will slow a bit. But don't worry, the next chapter will never be too far off. **


	14. Where does she fit?

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 14 – Where does she fit.**

**No One's POV**

Tori huffed in a rather irritated fashion. "Jade you were supposed to wait until the cops came."

A smirk came to Jade's face. "Do you honestly think I would pass up the chance to tell Morgan that she was doomed? I had to see the look of horror her eyes when she found out, anything less would be unsatisfactory. She nearly sent me to prison, lest I remind you. Besides, the cops were only minutes away. There was nothing at that point she could do to save herself and I wanted her to know that."

"Prison?" Beck said, with a good amount of concern in his voice.

"What's going on?" Asked Andre.

"Vega, would you please enlighten these folks."

Tori took a deep breath. "Well you all know that Jade was messing with Ryan, Morgan's boyfriend. Well she was acting all heartbroken and depressed all last week, but it was just an act. On Friday I over heard Briana talking to one of the hall twins in the bathroom, about everything being set or something. They stopped talking as soon as they realized they were not alone. That made me a bit suspicious. For some reason, I wondered if something was gong to happen at the party. Well, my suspicions were right. At the party Jade was roofied by one of Morgan's friends. They had planned on shaving her head. After that they were going to place her behind the wheel of her car in a ditch. In the car they were going to plant a good amount of drugs. Then they would report a driver first driving erratically and then going into the ditch. Police would have found an unconscious Jade behind the wheel and drugs in her car. With the amount they were planning on putting in the car she would have gotten at least 10 years behind bars."

Cat, Andre, Robbie and Beck all gasped at once.

Beck looked a bit more upset about the revelation that the others. "My god. What happened?"

"I'll finish the story Vega. Well Tori comes to the party and looks for Morgan or her friends. She found and overheard one of the hall twins and a girl in a Scissoring Jacket how they had me drugged in a greenhouse. So Tori grabbed a golf club and went out there. The first thing she did was to covertly video the group, as Morgan conveniently went over her entire plan. Then she burst in the room with the golf club swinging and scared the whole lot of them off."

Jade couldn't help but laugh. "Tori here in fact, nearly took Morgan's pretty little head off."

Tori turned red. "I was only trying to scare her. I just got a little closer to her head than I intended. After that I drove Jade home."

"By way of the beach I might add and you ate in my car." Jade said with mock annoyance.

"You forgot I listened to disco music on the way there. With you passed out in the back seat."

"Of course, let's not forget that. I had Copacabana by Barry Manilow stuck in my head all day yesterday." Jade said sarcastically.

"YOU ATE IN JADE'S CAR?" an astonished Cat immediately croaked.

Tori smiled. "I was feeling a bit triumphant. But anyway, the next day I filled in Jade and we went to my dad. Morgan is now facing at least 20 years in prison for Criminal conspiracy and attempted kidnapping as well as various drug charges."

Robbie spoke up. "So you lost the bet, on purpose to save Jade?"

Tori nodded. "The thing is, that when I went to save Jade, I only knew about the shaving of the head part. As amusing a thought of a bald Jade could be, I just couldn't let that happen. People would make fun of her."

Though Tori was kidding, Jade shot her a semi-serious glare at the last statement. But Tori just ignored it as she began to tell the story in more detail.

With the excitement of Morgan and her goons being hauled away, lunch proceeded normally. One noticeable exception was not only were they talking, but the tension that was normally between them seemed to be gone.

The rest of lunch passed without incident and the group broke up to go to class. As Jade got out of her seat, a short freshman girl with brown wavy hair came up to her.

"Jade, you don't know me, but I'm so happy you put Morgan in her place. I saw the whole thing just now. I don't know what happened but I'm glad. She was always mean to me. Thank you." The girl said with a look of gratitude.

Jade paused and glared at the girl. "Whats you're name?"

The girl smiled. "Christine Harrison"

Jade smirked and put her hand on Christine's shoulder. "Well Christine, what makes you think I won't be mean to you? Especially since, I know who you are now?" After she said it Jade just her words hang in the air, as her hand continued to rest on Christine's shoulder.

The girl seemed to wither and quickly backed out of Jade's reach, as a look of fear began to form on her face.

"I…I…I think I'll…." The girl stammered before she suddenly bolted.

"That wasn't very nice Jade." Tori playfully scolded her.

Jade suddenly chuckled. "Well neither am I. This was just one apex predator getting rid of another one that overstepped her bounds. It wasn't a public service."

After the briefest look of disappointment, Tori appeared to ponder for a moment. "If Christine is the prey and you're the predator, then what am I?" She said with a thoughtful smile, before heading off.

That question caught Jade off guard. She stood there for a moment watching Tori walking off, trying to think of an answer. Unlike Christine and the others in school and her life, Tori Vega, fit no clear definition. Friend could be the label used at the moment. But up to 2 day's ago, they weren't even speaking. Cat was a friend, this felt different somehow to Jade. Not in a bad way, but regardless, she owed Tori a lot and was determined to show her thanks. Jade knew that had Tori not interfered, her life like Morgan's now, would be over.

Before she could give the subject any more thought, Jade was jolted out of her thoughts by a tap on the shoulder from Beck.

"Earth to Jade!" The Canadian nervously said.

"What!" snapped Jade, who was irritated by the interruption.

Beck nervously shifted his feet a moment before speaking. Since their break up, the pair had barely spoken a word to each other. He was a bit nervous about speaking to Jade again.

"I'm just glad you're ok. I knew Morgan was a stuck up wench but this was just insane." He said as if he had carefully chosen his words.

Jade at this point, fully expected to get a lecture on why people shouldn't mess around with other peoples boyfriends. "Ok, here it comes. His I told you so." Jade thought, as she prepared to tell him to fuck off.

"Well if you need anything. Just let me know. I'm just glad Tori was there for you. I feel like I should have been. I'm sorry. I'll see you later." He said it looking rather sheepish and embarrassed. A moment later he made a small smile and walked off.

Jade was puzzled. "What no lecture, no smug self assured I told you so?" Jade said to herself as she watched Beck disappear into the school.

Jade pushed aside all the confusing thoughts spawned by Tori and Beck and just was glad that she still had a future ahead of her. But what kind of future, she could only ponder. In the immediate future was the evening with Tori. Once upon a time, Jade would have rather hung herself in the garage than spend time with Tori. But it was different now and she found herself looking forward to the evening with Tori. That was a very unusual feeling indeed.

Tori could feel a sense of building excitement, it seemed to start in her stomach and then gradually radiated outward. Tonight was the night they were going on their non date. But to Tori, it very much felt like a date. As the day proceeded she just kept fixating on what they would do, other than dinner and car shopping. It seemed hardly romantic but for Tori, who became more aware of her crush on Jade each day, it was the next best thing. But she kept going back to the question she asked Jade earlier, What am I? She hoped to perhaps get some answers that as the week went on.

**I'm sorry for the shortened and delayed chapter. I had some personal issues come up as well as a serious case of writers block. I know where the story is going, I was at a loss how to get it there. I love to maintain my chapter a day pace, but with the various things going on around me, that won't be possible. I will continue the story but most likely at a slower pace. I will get chapters out as soon as I can, when time and inspiration are available. **

**I'm so glad everyone is enjoying the story. Again I'd like to thank my collaborator Invader Johnny whose help is invaluable in writing this story.**

**I read on twitter that Dan Schneider, creator of Victorious, wants to make a finale for Victorious. Let's certainly hope that Nick will green light the project and it will get made. **


	15. An evening out

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 15 - An evening out. **

**I'm normally much better at getting chapters out sooner, but I've had a bit of writers block on this chapter for some odd reason. That is why I took a break and wrote the story; "The Last Resort". I am now back to writing this one.**

**No One's pov.**

Just a few weeks ago, Jade wanted nothing to do with Tori. She wanted to be with Beck and have Vega out of her hair. Now Jade was getting ready for her evening out with Tori and Beck was now her ex boyfriend. To Jade, everything now was upside down and backwards. As happy as she was with the whole situation, it was a bit disorientating and somewhat unsettling. Opening up to Tori, even though she wanted to, wouldn't be all that easy. Jade's defenses were still very much intact and they kept screaming, get away.

But she got ready, dressing casually in boots, mini skirt and red top and headed to Tori's house. Before they left school, Tori and Jade arranged for her to come by about 7 o'clock. So it was at 7, Jade knocked on Vega's door.

A moment Mr. Vega opened the door with a warm smile. "Come in Jade. I was just telling Holly about what went on at the station house today. I'd be happy to fill you in."

A smirk instantly appeared on Jade's face as she crossed the threshold. "A bit of excitement, I'd imagine!"

"You could say that." David Vega remarked casually.

"Hello Jade." Said Mrs. Vega, who was sitting at the kitchen table sipping some coffee.

"Hello, Mr's Vega." Jade replied politely.

"Well as I was saying. They brought Morgan and her buddies down to the station house. Morgan spent half the time yelling at the cops arresting her and other half the time trying to intimidate her "friends" into not spilling the beans. Soon enough, we had parents and lawyers all yelling at each other. That was, when they were not yelling at the cops. Mr. Tate of course threatened to sue the city, making the usual noise that rich people do when they're unhappy."

Jade chuckled, as she sat down. "So what happened?"

Mr. Vega took a seat next to his wife. "As predicted, Briana, Lori and Lisa hall promptly turned states evidence and agreed to testify against Morgan for reduced sentences. They gave up the other two members of the plot. The girl with the jacket was Morgan's cousin, Alyssa Tate and the person who spiked you drink was her boyfriend. Once we showed Mr. Tate the video and told him 3 people were willing to testify against his daughter, his bravado quickly vanished. I think Edwin Tate and his brother Michael, Alyssa's father, are looking to make this go away. I think the prospect of a trial might embarrass him and hurt his business, so I'll bet they'll plead out. Morgan will probably do between 10 and 20 years. Her friends will probably do 4-5, but that could change depending on the D.A.'s mood. It all happened so quickly."

"What about poor Morgan?" Jade said with a rather sarcastically.

"She spent her time alternately, screaming, crying or pleading for mercy.. After she found out her friends turned on her, she mostly sobbed uncontrollably."

Jade's glee was tempered with a slight look of disappointment. "I'm surprised she didn't mention me!"

Mr. Vega scrunched his face. "Well she didn't mention you by name, but she kept referring to that "dirty whore" and how she wanted to kill said "dirty whore" by chopping her into tiny pieces. She did use other colorful adjectives of course, but that was the one she used most often in her angry rants. At least until her lawyer told her in rather blunt terms, to "Shut the fuck up." I assume she was referring to you."

"David, language." Mrs. Vega, quickly scolded her husband.

"Who needs to shut the fuck up?" Tori said as she bounded down the stairs.

Jade grinned, looking rather pleased with herself. "Guess what Vega, Apparently, I'm a dirty whore."

Tori put up her hands defensively. "Hey don't look at me Jade. Someone one else wrote that on the bathroom wall on the 2nd floor. I only wrote, you smell like ass."

Jade's face darkened for a moment, before she realized that Tori was kidding. "The only graffiti in that bathroom calls me a rotten skank and I know you didn't write it."

Tori looked slightly insulted. "How did you know I didn't write it? I can call people names you know."

"Tori, its bad enough your father swears, Language." Mrs. Vega interjected.

Jade stood up and laughed. "Because you just wouldn't. In any case, I'm pretty sure it was Beck at a point when we were fighting. Come on Vega, I'm hungry."

The girls headed out, hopped into Jade's car and began to drive. A few minutes into their drive, Jade suddenly laughed. "Hey, lets visit Morgan in Jail."

Tori just shook her head. "I'll be she'd love that. But let's actually have a good time instead."

Jade nodded. "You're right, she's probably too busy making special friends in lock up anyway."

"They're going to pass her around, like a bowl of chip dip. Sucks to be her." Tori said in an oddly cold and dismissive tone. "Hey where are we eating anyway?"

Jade raised an eyebrow, noting the way Tori coldly dismissed the fate of Morgan. It was just another surprise and Vega seemed full of them. First Vega, forgoes the bet to save her and then she somewhat coldly refers to Morgan's fate. As much as Jade hated Morgan, she found Tori's attitude oddly disturbing.

"Were going to Bill's Crab Palace. They've got top notch crab and lobster plus it's only a few blocks from a couple of used car lots." Jade said, dismissing her previous thoughts.

Soon enough the girls arrived at the restaurant, which just across the street from the beach. The building itself looked like many of the fish and crab places that one would find scattered all around New England. A white painted building with a small lighthouse attached to the side. The inside was a rustic seafaring look, with nets and lobster traps mounted to the walls.

The hostess took Tori and Jade out onto the patio. It was a pleasant night with a calm sea breeze taking the edge off the day's heat.

Soon after they ordered their drinks, Jade seemed to be come slightly agitated as she appeared to think. After a moment she slapped herself on the head. "I've been thinking about this on and off since yesterday. How could I have been so stupid? I'm Jade West. I'm mean, cynical and not easily fooled. But I just walked right into Morgan's little trap."

"Don't beat yourself up Jade. If I know one thing about Morgan is that she's very manipulative and a semi decent actress. No one's perfect." Tori said in an attempt to calm down the agitated Jade.

Jade shook her head. "No, I should have seen through her little, I'm broken cause I've lost my boyfriend act. But I didn't. I just bought it, hook, line and sinker. I should have seen through it. I should have been suspicious."

"Jade stop it."

Jade only seemed to get more agitated. "The worst part is, that Morgan knew how to pull me in. With that scissoring Jacket. Let's face it,that was the perfect bait. I never saw it coming and nearly wound up spending 20 years in prison for it. How could I have been so stupid?"

In the back of Jade's mind she half knew why she was so easily fooled. But she was unable to admit it to herself, not at least fully. She had been too fixated on Tori Vega and paid very little attention to Morgan Tate. It was a simple fact that Tori had been occupying more and more of her thinking.

Tori in an attempt to calm Jade down, put her hand over Jade's and spoke in a calm voice. "Jade, were having a nice dinner. Just calm down. Stop beating yourself up."

Jade did find Tori's touch oddly calming and could feel the tension in her dissipate as quickly as it seemed to appear. For a brief instant Jade found herself looking into Tori's eyes, unable to look away. Something about those brown orbs, just kept drawing her further and further in.

An instant later the appearance of the waiter to take their order broke the spell. Part of her wanted that moment, but another part of her quickly rebelled. The rebellious part won, and jade found herself changing the subject to that of Sikowitz and his coconut visions. It was the very first think her mind reached for.

Dinner came and their conversation continued. It was good conversation but Jade kept it from getting too deep. Changing the subject when ever her defenses were neared, though part of her wanted to open up. Tori on the other hand simply enjoyed being with Jade. She didn't expect Jade to open up, but the Goth had shown a few cracks of what was underneath.

After stuffing themselves with crab legs, the waiter brought the bill. Casually Tori went to pick it up.

"Don't you dare!" Jade hissed as she snatched the bill.

"I just wanted to see it." Tori said defensively.

"Well you're not. That's an order. You are technically still my slave. I pay for everything tonight. You got it Vega!" Jade said quickly.

Tori seemed to light up. "Does that mean you're going to buy my car for me, when we go car shopping."

Jade narrowed her eyes. "Don't be cute."

Tori lifted up her chin in defiance. "I'm sorry, I just can't help being cute. In fact I'm downright sexy."

Before Jade could even react, the words, "That's for fucking sure." suddenly shot through Jade's head. "Where in the hell did that come from?" She further thought, as she only shook her head in actual response to Tori's boast.

Tori frowned. "You don't think I'm sexy?" As soon as Tori said it, she regretted it. As much as she wanted Jade to say yes, Tori was terrified of pushing Jade away.

"I'm just shitting you Jade, come on, lets pay the bill and get out of here." Tori said in a quick attempt to cover up the awkward moment.

For an instant, Jade wanted to answer that question. What surprised her most about that, was the answer; yes.

Jade grabbed the bill and got out of her seat. "You're right, let's go."

In spite of the slight awkwardness of the way Tori was making her feel, Jade was enjoying herself immensely. Tori was a bit more complex than she ever imagined. Jade had to admit that her initial assessment of Vega, that of a stupid shallow pretty girl, was incorrect.

"So what kind of car do you want?" Jade asked, as they exited the restaurant.

Tori shrugged. "Something small, but cute."

Jade smirked. "You and cute again."

Tori frowned. "I like cute."

"Just don't call me cute."

Tori grinned. "I'd never call you cute, you're much too sexy for that." Again Tori let her feelings get the best of her and let her mouth run off.

Jade just stood there for a moment, utterly speechless. Part of her was flattered but on another level she got just a bit uncomfortable. At the same time she noticed that Tori started to turn a nice shade of red.

After a brief awkward moment, not the first of the evening, Jade gave Tori a playful shove towards the car. "You're so funny, come on let's go car shopping." Jade said, rather sarcastically

Tori nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but notice the small amount of nervousness in Jade's voice.

The pair hopped in the car and pulled away from the restaurant. To cover the awkward moment, Tori quickly turned on the radio.

Tori perked up right away as the beginnings of a Pink Floyd song came on. "Cool, Another Brik in the wall Part 2, by Pink Floyd."

Jade looked puzzled. "Vega, since when are you a Pink Floyd Fan?"

"Don't you remember, our term paper for music theory class. I had to write a paper on Pink Floyd: The Wall. I think you had Queensryche. I've been listening to The Wall almost every day since we got the assignment. I know that album backwards and forwards, It's a quarter of our grade so I want to ace it. I've been listening to their other albums too, so I can have some context. See how different it is from their other works. I didn't think I'd like them, but they've grown on me."

As soon as she finished speaking Tori began to sign along.

_We don't need no education_

_We don't need no thought control_

_No dark sarcasm in the classroom _

With that lyric Tori playfully pointed to Jade, who sneered back and began to sing along.

_Teachers leave them kids alone_

_HEY! TEACHERS! Leave them kids alone!_

_All in all, it's just another brick in the wall._

_All in all, you're just another brick in the wall_

The pair continued to sing the song and the nervous tension that had been evident only a few minutes before, slowly began to melt away with each verse. By the time they arrived at the used car lot, they were both singing along to the next song, which was Barracuda by Heart.

They girls were not on the lot 5 minutes when a salesman with slicked back hair, cheesy grin and a very loud tie came up to them. "Hi, I'm Walt Peters, how can I help you ladies this fine evening."

Jade instantly got in his face," My friend would like a car, a good car, not a piece of shit that you're trying to unload on some poor sucker because you know the brakes are shot. So you're going to wipe that stupid grin off your face and show us some nice cars that are less than 2000 dollars. Am I making myself clear?"

Walt's confident slick demeanor quickly evaporated under Jade's withering glare. He quickly backed away full step. "Ahh….A sure. Please right this way."

As he walked ahead of the girls Tori poked Jade. "Jade you didn't have to be so mean to him."

Jade smirked, "Tori, I hate car salesmen. Besides, he'll unload some piece of crap on you if you'll let him."

"You just like being mean sometimes."

Jade tilted her head and appeared to think for a second. "And your point is?"

A moment later he walked up to a dull green Hyundai accent, "We have this beauty, a 2007 Hyundai, Acc…"

Jade cut him off in mid sentence. "It's green, next!"

"Jade!" Tori quickly protested.

Jade looked at Tori, "its puke green, do you seriously want to drive a puke green car? I hate green cars, anyway."

Tori looked to the car and then to Jade, then shook her head.

A smug looking smile appeared on Jade's face. "Ok Walt, Next!"

Walt showed Tori several other cars. Jade made and occasional objection but let Tori do most of the talking. Jade just did her best to make sure the salesman remained nervous and slightly off balance. She did that by constantly glaring at him.

Eventually Tori found a 2007 Dodge avenger that she liked for $1700. As she was looking over it and just about to tell Walt she would take it, she looked at Jade who was admiring another car.

Tori walked over to see Jade admiring a Black 2009 Toyota Camry for $1900. Tori had briefly looked at it but moved on while Jade had kept looking at it. Tori then took a closer look. The car itself was in great condition.

"You like this car Jade?"

Jade quietly nodded.

Tori though she liked the avenger better, she wanted to please Jade. So Tori looked over at Walt and said. "I'll take this one."

Walt smiled, "It's a good car, and you've made a good choice."

An hour later and $1900 dollars poorer, Tori had the keys to her new car. Jade walked up to Tori who was sitting in the drivers seat.

"You didn't have to buy this to please me."

Tori lied. "No I really liked this car."

Jade nodded. "I'm glad you like it."

"Come on, let's show it to my dad."

Jade followed Tori home and there they showed Tori's parents her new car. Trina immediately said it was ugly, but her parents appeared to be pleased by the choice.

After they had shown the car, Tori and Jade found themselves alone in Tori's driveway. Jade found it to be a strange moment, she sensed it was the end of the evening but didn't quite want it to end. That in itself made her a bit nervous.

Breaking the awkward moment, Tori gave Jade a quick hug. Jade stiffened involuntarily for a moment then seemed to relax. Just the fact that Jade didn't protest her hug, pleased Tori greatly. "Thanks for dinner and helping me car shop."

"No problem Vega. I still owe you."

Tori thought for a moment, "I have some stuff to do the next couple of nights, but let's go and see a movie later in the week or something. My treat this time."

"Sure." Jade said automatically.

Tori's already present smile, widened. "Cool, I'll see you tomorrow."

A few minutes later Jade was on her way home, thinking about the night. They had dinner and went car shopping, which in itself wasn't terribly exciting. But as awkward as it was a few times there was something about being with Vega that Jade simply liked. It was a different feeling than when she was with Cat, much different. Not to mention the fact that Jade began to suspect that Tori had a crush on her.

The strangest thing of all was, that Jade didn't half mind, when she managed to overcome that part of her that wanted to run. It was all confusing and strange but Jade found herself looking forward to her next evening with Tori.

**This chapter took me forever to write. I'm sorry folks. I hoped you liked this one. As I said, I know where the story is going, it's just the route I'm not sure of. **

**Jade and Tori are getting to know each other and starting to bond. But there is some awkwardness and Jade seems to be struggling with her feelings a bit more than Tori did.**

**Lyrics from Pink Floyd's, Another Brick in the wall (Part 2) were used without permission. **

**I don't normally give a plug for another story but in this case will. If you get a chance read the story. "For a Change" By 27milestogo. In the story Jade, in order to get herself out of rut in her life set's her sights on Tori. It's a great well written story and worth a follow.**


	16. Do you know what you're doing?

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 16 – Do you know what you're doing?**

**No one's pov**

At exactly 7:55 Tori's 2009 Toyota Camry glided into the parking lot of Hollywood arts. It was a bright and sunny Tuesday morning and Tori was eager to show off her new car. At Trina's suggestion Tori announced her presence by playing a catchy pop tune as she pulled in.

"You can't just drive in, you have to make a proper appearance. Play Katy Perry's Hot and cold real loud as you pull in. That way everyone can't help but notice your new car. But then again, it being black and kind of ugly, you may not." Trina said before she had left this morning.

Tori just frowned and decided to take her sisters advice.

As she got out of her Car she quickly spotted Cat bounding up like a child on Christmas day, with Jade following close behind.

"Oh my god is this your new Car? I love it." Cat squealed. "Jade told me you got it last night."

Jade stood behind Cat, her arms across her chest smirking quietly.

Tori smiled. "I just want to show it off to everyone." Tori's smile faded. "But no one is noticing my car."

At this point Jade's arm reached out and grabbed the shirt of a passing freshman boy.

"You! What's your name?" Jade barked.

The boy's eyes quickly bugged out. "Ahh….Brian! Please don't kill me."

Jade grunted and pointed Brian towards the car. "This is a great looking car isn't it Brian?" The way Jade said it, it obviously wasn't a question.

Brian nervously nodded his head. "Yes, it is?"

The smirk returned to Jade's Face. "Now Brian, tell Tori you're happy she has a new car."

With a look of sheer terror on his face Brian looked to Tori. "Tori, I'm happy you have a new car."

Before Tori could respond, Jade released Brian who quickly fled.

"JADE! That was mean." Tori whined.

Jade frowned. "You wanted someone to notice your car. Now someone has. Make up your mind Vega!" With that, Jade turned on her heel and walked away.

"Nice Wheel's." Said another voice from across the parking lot.

Cat and Tori turned to see it was Beck, who was casually walking up. He got to the car and took a close look at the exterior and interior of the car, appearing to study it carefully.

"I like it, you made a good choice." Beck said with a nod.

Tori smiled in return. "Thank you. Jade went car shopping with me yesterday. She was a great help."

One of Beck's eyebrows quickly rose. "Help?"

"She put the fear of god in that salesman, I don't think he ever even considered selling me a lemon after she got in his face."

Beck chuckled. "She'll do that."

After a brief pause his face grew more serious. "I just wanted to say, you did a good thing by coming to Jade's rescue like that. Not everyone would have done so. Especially considering the history between you two."

"Thank you Beck. It was just the right thing to do. Tori said with a warm smile.

It was a bland response at best. But Tori didn't want all the awkward questions that would go with the truth, I couldn't let anyone harm the woman I think I'm falling in love with.

Jade, meanwhile was feeling a measure of pride that Tori had picked the car that she liked. It was silly and irrational but she couldn't help but feel good that Tori picked her car. As the morning continued Jade resisted the urge to temper that pride.

That part of her that resisted Vega kept gnawing at the back of her mind. "It's just a stupid friggen car. Who care's what Vega drives. " It would say.

Beside's the pride, the continuing thought that Vega might have a crush on her kept running through Jade's mind. On top of that, it was final's week the next week and Jade needed to study and prepare. She had several exams and a few projects to finish.

But of all the things, the one thing that kept coming to the surface was one question. "Does Vega really have a crush on me?"

As lunch came, Jade was still thinking about it. Coming to the table she could see there was seats next to both Beck and Tori. Part of her wanted to sit next to Tori, but the other side resisted. So after a moment of indecision she sat down next to Cat.

"Yey, Jade picked me." The red haired girl said, with a child like giggle.

Jade instantly glared at Cat, silencing her immediately.

After that lunch proceeded as normal, a lot of discussion was about Tori's new car. Though Jade found herself watching Tori intently, though she tried to not be obvious about it. A lot was going through Jade's head as she looked at Tori. All she knew for sure, none of what she felt made sense.

At times she would look at Tori and then look to Beck as if he were supposed to be the answer. But he was just Beck, no more, no less. While she remembered the intense emotional attachments that she once had for, she only felt a confused sense of nostalgia for those days. When she looked at Tori, she couldn't comprehend what she felt. She chalked it up to her gratitude for Tori saving her.

Near the end of lunch Jade took a look at Tori, but at that same moment Tori glanced over at Jade.

The two set's of eyes met, each trying to decipher what was behind the other. As Jade looked into Tori's eyes, the Latina smiled.

Jade at that moment, couldn't quite pin it down what exactly was it that told her. Was it the smile or how she blinked, Jade couldn't tell. But what she knew for absolute certainty was that Tori did have a crush on her. It instantly became plain as day, for reasons Jade couldn't quite fathom. Abruptly Jade broke eye contact and jabbed her salad as if it was some dangerous monster. In fact, she did so hard that she broke the fork.

"Dammit." Jade hissed in frustration as she became aware that she felt a warmth in her face. Blushing, I can't be blushing, there's no reason for me to blush, Jade thought quickly. But suddenly feeling very uncomfortable Jade grabbed her plate, stood up and walked away.

"Bye losers." Jade said trying to sound flippant, as she walked away.

In Sikowitz's class after that, Jade only half listened to the lecture. Though unusually today there was a tv and a dvd player in front of the stage today.

"As performers we often let our personal feelings towards the other actors bleed into our performances. In sometimes it can take from the performance, others it can make it more interesting. For example in this clip from the 80's show Miami Vice, you'll notice that actor Edward James Olmos when he speaks in character to Don Johnson's character of Sony Crockett, Olmos rarely looks at him. That's because it's widely rumored that the actors hated each other. Now in my opinion this tension actually enhances the performance. Let's us see." Sikowtiz said as he killed the lights and hit play on the dvd player.

As the lights dimmed, Jade's attention went to the TV for a moment then to Tori who was sitting with Andre in the row ahead and just off to the right. Jade found herself fascinated by the way the light from the TV screen reflected off of Tori's face.

Suddenly Jade's other side rebelled. "Great, now I'm going goofy. Just because Vega saved my ass." Jade then blocked out thoughts of Vega and focused her attention on the TV.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully for Jade. Though she managed to remained focused on her classes, the thought of Vega wasn't too far from her mind. She had nothing planned for that night and was going to study for final exams that were taking place the following week. Tori had indicated earlier in the day that she had planned to do the same for the next two nights.

As Jade was exiting the school, she spotted Tori who was proudly walking to her car.

"Hey Vega, Nice car." Jade called out.

Tori turned around and smiled. "Thanks."

It was a silly thing to say, but Jade just found herself wanting to see Vega smile. A small indulgence she gave herself.

Soon after getting home, Jade threw herself into her studies and worked until nearly 10 o'clock. After that Jade put away her books, sat on her bed and began to watch TV. Flipping channels she ran across the tail end of a Grey's Anatomy episode and began to watch. Jade would hardly seem like a fan of the show but actually did like to watch it from time to time.

A scene came on where the two female characters of Arizona and Callie were having a brief romantic moment in a hospital corridor. The pair was a couple on the show. Jade found herself being drawn into the moment between the two. Thoughts of Tori quickly came to mind.

As the show ended there was nothing else she wanted to watch so Jade turned off the TV and thought about Tori even more.

"She likes me. Why would she want to?" Jade said to herself.

A smirk came to Jade's lips. "Well I am pretty fucking sexy, if I say so myself. At least Vega has taste."

After a few moments of quiet thought, Jade could only help but wonder. "What would it be like to kiss her?" But Jade resisted the thought any further as she leapt off the bed.

"I don't like Vega like that.." Jade harshly said to herself as she started to get ready for bed.

Hours later, Jade was lying asleep in bed. Like every night, her dreams came. But tonight she dreamed she was lying in bed. But suddenly she became aware she was not alone.

She could feel a warm body pressed up against her side and a hand slowly massaging her left breast. Turning over, Jade could see it was the naked and tanned form of Tori Vega.

The Latina smiled and then straddle her form. "Hey Lover." She cooed. Though her mind wanted out of the bed, her body seemed to disobey her as she gingerly ran her fingers up Tori's leg.

Tori put a finger to her chin and tilted her head. "So how should I ravage Jade this particular evening? Hmm…that's a tough one."

A moment later Tori just smiled and lay down on top of her and whispered in her ear. "How about we just make love." Just the feeling of Tori's breath on her left ear sent tingles through Jade's entire body. Not to mention the words seemed to prime her body rather nicely. Already Jade could feel herself getting wetter by the instant.

Though her mind screamed get out, her body steadfastly refused. A second after that, Tori began to suck at the pulse point on Jade's neck.

Jade's mind reeled at the pleasure that she was feeling. "OH my god, Beck never got me this wound up so fast. This isn't right!"

Jade's mouth was the next to rebel against her mind, as it spoke words on its own. "I need you."

"I need you too baby!' Tori murmered into Jade's neck.

Then Tori moved down and slowly licked Jade's left nipple, which hardened in an instant. "Stop that." Jade's mind commanded the nipple. But the command was ignored as Tori firmly latched onto it.

A simply flick of the tongue on the nipple sent a shockwave through Jade's body. Jade moaned as she could feel the tension rise within herself. As her own body surrendered to Tori, though her mind resisted.

Not able to take it anymore, Jade reached down between her legs and began to rub her clit. Tori at this point released the nipple,sat up and laughed.

"You tell yourself, that you don't like me like that Jade. Bullshit. After all, do you know what you're doing right now?"

Jade then snapped awake and realized much like in her dream, she was in the act of pleasuring herself.

Jade instantly pulled her wet hand from her crotch and stumbled out of bed.

"What the fuck?" Jade said breathlessly, as she hurried into the bathroom to wash her hands and splash some water on her face. Her mind was spinning like a top and her body felt wound up like a steel spring.

The shaken Goth could feel her heart still racing, as she splashed cold water on her face.

Jade couldn't believe what happened and instantly started to deny the confused myriad of feelings surging through her. "This didn't happen. This didn't happen. I don't feel that way about her. Get out of my fucking head Vega."

Jade would keep saying that to herself a short while later as she tried to get back to sleep. A sleep free of Vega she hoped. However deep down in her subconscious, she hoped otherwise.

**Jade is struggling with her sexuality and attraction to Tori. Some people except it easily, some fight it tooth and nail. How could this complicate things between Jade and Tori. Just keep reading. **

**I hope to have the next chapter out next week. As I said the chapters will be a bit slower coming out, but they will be coming. I'd rather take my time and write a decent chapter than rush out a shoddy product. I thank you for your patience. **

**The story Sikowitz tells about Miami vice is supposedly true. If you watch some of the episodes. There are alot of scenes where Edward James Olmos speaks to Don Johnson and never once looks at him. **

**I've seen Grey's anatomy and it's a good show. But in all honesty, i haven't seen it in some time. But i thought it was a good show to use in the story.**


	17. Beneath the surface

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else but not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 17 – Beneath the surface**

**Tori's POV**

It was Wednesday morning, and I was still feeling pretty good about how things have turned out. Things were looking up. Jade and I were bonding and I had a glimmer of hope that Jade could feel the same way about her that I felt about her. A couple of weeks ago, I would have said it was a one in a million shot that Jade and I could be together.

But now, I'd say it's 1 in 10 maybe, 1 in a 100. I don't really know. In any case, I think the odds are getting better. Now that I've realized and accepted my feelings I have this peace of mind.

I was at my locker getting my books, when I looked over at Jade's scissor covered locker. She wasn't there. I found it funny as she's normally arrives before I do.

As I finished in my locker and slammed it shut, I spotted the pale beauty walking in the door. She had a large coffee in hand and a rather dour expression on her face. Not being able to resist, I walked over to her as she opened her locker.

"Hi Jade." I said with my brightest smile.

She shoved her purse in her locker and slowly turned her head towards me. For a moment I found myself on the receiving end of a rather acute glare.

"Vega." She then said with a curt nod.

I got the feeling that something was bothering her. "What's wrong? You seem a bit off today."

That glare returned again with an even greater intensity, albeit briefly, before she spoke tersely. "I didn't sleep well. In any case, have you ever known me to be a morning person? I hate mornings, this one especially. There is one thing I hate more than mornings, however. Do you want to know what that is?" Then she turned her attention to the books in her locker.

I was sure I wouldn't like the answer but asked anyway. "What is that?"

"Cheerful people in the mornings?" I could detect just the slightest tone of venom in her voice, as she spoke it.

I suddenly got the impression that bothering Jade anymore at them moment would be a very bad idea. Despite what I feel, I know when to back off.

"Well I hope what ever it is turns out for the better. I've got to get to class."

"You do that." Jade said with little emotion, without even bothering to look at me.

As I walked off I couldn't help but wonder if something was really bothering her or she was just bitchy. I didn't like seeing her like that, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I turned to look one last time before I turned the corner and saw Cat happily prance up to Jade. Cat then gave Jade an even more cheerful greeting, that I gave her.

Jade turned around and said nothing. Instead she continued to glare at Cat until Cat got very uncomfortable and left.

**Jade's POV**

I'm sleep deprived, bitchy and just don't want to deal with this today. Why am I even here? After my little "Dream" I tired to get back to sleep. But sleep eluded me for hours. I finally managed to drift off about an hour before my alarm went off.

I knew Vega would want to talk to me this morning. Part of me did, but I couldn't handle it right now. So I played it cold, lacing my works with a hint of venom and soon enough she left. A cold glare dispatched Cat a few moments later. To be honest, for the first time in my life I'm having doubts about my sexuality. I've never had a dream like that. I think the most disturbing part was that Vega wound my clock, all to fast. Though I wanted it to stop, my body betrayed me completely.

Just see Vega and her brown eyes, strolling up to me this morning sent a unfamiliar twinge through my body. But I just shut it out and powered through, turning to ice.

I wasn't angry at Vega, not all. In fact, I was still very grateful. I just wanted to be by myself for a while. I just needed to think this through. I'm tired anyway, so I just want to be left alone.

**Tori's POV**

Jade was bitchy, standoffish and brooding all morning, paying little attention to me. In fact she appeared to be deliberately avoiding looking at me. Though I wanted to talk with her, I gave her the space I think she needed.

I couldn't think of anything I had done to her. The last I saw her yesterday, she said my car looked nice and I smiled back. After that I went home, had dinner and studied all night.

Though I figured lunch would be interesting to say the least.

When I got to lunch Andre, and Beck were already there. So I sat down next to Andre and began to eat. Cat and Robbie showed up a few moments later. It was minute after that Jade showed up. She looked no less bitchy than she did this morning. So I just gave her a polite nod and said nothing.

There were two spots, one next to me and one next to Beck. She chose the one next to Beck. No one seemed to really care that Jade sat down to her ex boyfriend. After all for years, that was her normal spot. No one cared, except me that is. Just seeing her sit next to him sent a pang of jealousy through my insides.

Even though I tried to hide my jealousy, I found myself giving Jade a look of disapproval. Though surprisingly Jade seemed to grow uncomfortable for a moment, then looked down at her salad as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Honestly I wasn't expecting that. Somehow with a single look, I briefly managed to rattle Jade of all people.

I would kill to know what's going on in her head right now. What does she think of me? Do I have a chance? That's all I want to know.

As I mused what was going on in Jade's pretty head, I happened to glance over at Beck. He looked all too pleased to have Jade sitting next to him, a stupid grin on his face. This had been the first time since they broke up, Jade had sat next to him. Just seeing that, drove me nuts. When he was looking away, I couldn't help but shoot daggers at him with my eyes. I wonder how long that grin would last if someone started the rumor he has crabs? Yeah, that's a real low blow, but all's fair in love and war. God, just look at what this is doing to me. I'm totally considering torpedoing, Beck over Jade.

As I realized I was being silly and childish I, stopped before anyone noticed my rather pointed glare. A second later I realized I was mistaken, as someone had noticed. I happened to look over at Jade, who was now starring at me, with a rather odd expression on her face as she began to shift uncomfortably. She had seen me glare at Beck and I was fairly certain she knew I was not happy with her seating choice.

I quickly scratched the back of my neck and looked down at my food, trying to hide the fact that my face had just turned red with embarrassment. I avoided looking at Jade the entire rest of lunch and pretty much kept to myself. Jade seemed to avoid gazing in my direction as well. The rest of lunch was unusually quiet and somewhat awkward; at least to Jade and I, it was. I couldn't help but wonder if her foul mood had something to do with me. I know she just figured out I was jealous, but her odd behavior started hours before that. So I can't be sure.

**Jade's POV**

What the hell was that? I sat down next to Beck at lunch for the first time since we broke up. I'm not sure exactly why. Probably because it was a familiar place to be. My brain is scrambled and I need some normalcy. Of course the next thing I see is this look from Tori. She's like totally not happy that I'm sitting there. She was being completely jealous. Instinctively I looked away and down at my salad. I couldn't handle that look from Tori. I hated her looking at me like that. She was getting to me again. That look of jealous disapproval, it seemed to pierce me to my soul.

Beck, of course looked as pleased as punch to have me next to him. If I didn't regret sitting there already, the smug grin on his face made my stomach churn.

It was then I looked over at Vega again and she's giving Beck this total death glare. Beck was talking to Andre so he didn't notice. I couldn't believe it, I totally blown away. I just figured out the other day that Vega had a crush. Apparently she doesn't like competition either.

A line from Shakespeare's Othello, suddenly rattled through my head.

"_Beware my lord of Jealousy. It is the green eyed monster with doth mock the meat it feed's on."_

I always I thought I was the jealous one. This is no mere crush. For nice Tori display that amount of jealousy, she has to have the full on hots for me. I suddenly felt an uncomfortable mix of surprise, disbelief, awkwardness and more of that feeling from last night's dream.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could hear the naked Tori Vega from the dream laughing at me.

The killer part was when Vega looked over and caught me looking at her. She instantly turned bright red and suddenly looked down at her lunch. For a moment I felt this perverse thrill at having her so jealous of my seating choice. I half wondered, what Vega would do if I suddenly put my arm around Beck. She'd probably choke to death on her burrito. After a moment I suddenly felt very awkward about the whole thing.

Just before lunch I thought I had it all worked out. She had a small crush on me, I was confusing gratitude with desire and this was all about nothing. Now my carefully constructed version of how things were, suddenly got upended. Tori had the hots for me and I couldn't get that image of her naked body out of my head.

As soon as lunch was done, I would go to the broom closet and think. For a moment, my imagination ran away from me and I had this image of me pushing Vega up against the wall. I could feel her breath on my face as pressed closer and closer.

"Stop that." I said to myself as I shook it off. I needed to just eat my lunch and keep my eyes off Vega. What the fuck his happening to me.

**Tori's Pov**

After lunch got to Sikowitz's class early and sat in the Back. Beck arrived a few moments later and sat in the front. Andre sat a row ahead of me. Cat and Robbie sat together. By the time Sikowitz arrived, through the window, Jade hadn't shown up yet.

"OK, kiddies, I have an announcement," He said while rubbing his hands, looking somewhat excited.

At this point Jade walked in, still looking unhappy.

"Ah Jade, nice of you to join us. Please sit." Sikowitz remarked.

Jade looked at me, than at Beck, than she sat down next to Cat. I still wanted her with me, but at least she wasn't with Beck.

"OK, now that everyone is here, I have announcement. Next week is finals and after that the end of another year here at Hollywood Arts. Since all of you have done so good this year, I'm treating all of you to brunch this Sunday at the Empire room. Those of you not familiar with it, The Empire room is on the 42nd floor of the Heftly, Building. So be there at 10 on Sunday afternoon and enjoy a nice brunch to celebrate the end of the year. If anyone needs directions, please see me after class."

I'd eaten brunch there once before with my parents and found it quite good. It was a semi upscale restaurant that was popular with the business crowd during the week. Sunday's thay had a first rate brunch, plus the restaurant had a great view of the city. I found myself looking forward to it.

Class continued and Jade still looked more brooding than anything. Though I had no definiate idea what was bugging her today, my suspicion it had something to do with me, grew as the day went on.. Just the fact that I didn't know for sure bothered me. But there was nothing I could do about it. That's one of the things that always fascinated me about her, I couldn't read her very well. Her personality was more than dark and brooding, it was complex and deep. Sort of like a vast unexplored ocean, beneath the churning wave's a thousand mysteries await. Like any ocean, it has its horrors and wonders. I guess I saw Jade like that. She seemed dark and story on the surface, but underneath was wonders beyond imagination.

As the day progressed, I caught Jade looking at me a few times in the classes we were in together.. Probably because I spend a lot of time looking at her. But since this morning, she had barely spoken a word to anyone, me especially.

Finally the day ended and I was daydreaming at my locker when a voice suddenly jolted me out of my thoughts.

"Vega."

I spun around to see Jade standing there. She looked a bit subdued, but not nearly as moody as before.

I couldn't help but smile at the fact that she came to me. "Yes, Jade. What can I do for you?"

For a moment she looked indecisive, but then spoke. "Hey, have you studied for the history final yet?"

Jade was in history with me, it was the second class of the day. Instantly my hopes shot up that we could do something together.

"Ah…No. I was going to do it either tonight or tomorrow."

"I'm busy tonight, but do you want to study for it together. I can come over."

After her brooding of today, I was more than happy to have her want to do something.

I nodded quickly. "Sure, we can study tomorrow night. I hear the exam will be a tough one. We can quiz each other or something. Come over at 7. We can order pizza."

"Sound's good. See you later Vega." Jade said as she started to move off.

I couldn't help but ask. "You seemed bothered by something this morning. You seem a bit better now, did the problem resolve itself?"

Jade then carefully studied me for a moment. "I'm still working on it, but there's no point in letting it get to me."

I have no idea what Jade meant by that, her sudden desire to study with me was just as puzzling. But I'll take it.

"See you Later Jade."

Jade walked off and waived. "Later Vega."

**Jade's POV**

Ok, Vega has the hots for me and she's a bit jealous. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Maybe my subconscious realized her feelings were a bit more than a crush and simply made the dream Vega to demonstrate that. I don't want to think it's because I have feelings for her. I can't have feelings for her. She's just a friend. She selfishly helped me out of a jam and risk to herself. I'm so confused right now. Just the fact that I've doubted my sexuality has me pretty rattled. It's normal for that sort of thing to happen, lots of people do it. Why should I be any different?

I spent the day just trying to work it out, come up with a simple explanation for how I feel. To explain it all in a neat explanation. But I couldn't. Even if there was something to that dream, it doesn't mean that I have feelings for Vega. She is rather attractive, that goes without saying. So I admire her form a bit and she's interesting so obviously my subconscious just got away from me. I'm not gay, I just have a few confused feelings about having a gay friend that's all.

I saw Vega at her locker at the end of the day. I had promised her a good week when I found out she had saved me. We only went out for dinner that one night. I still felt very obligated to her, so I though maybe we could study and do something afterward. I do consider her a friend, so we study and maybe do something afterward. Just as friends, no confused feelings, no disappointment. Tori will eventually find someone else to fixate on. But not too soon, I kind of like the attention.

I hesitated at first for reasons I couldn't quite explain. It was like asking someone on a date and I felt this odd feeling of nervousness. But I did ask and she completely lit up. Just seeing that brought that familiar wave of confused feelings as before. But at the same time, I liked seeing her all happy and lit up. My gut said I was doing the right thing so I went with it.

She's just a friend and that's that. These confused feelings and her having the hots for me will all sort itself out. She's just a friend like Cat, only less dim and a lot more annoying. She's a new friend and this all takes some adjustment.

As I walked off, I found myself wanting to look back. Just to see her face. I suddenly felt this pull to do it, I don't know why. But I resisted and kept on going.

**Well here's another chapter. Jade realizes that Tori has the hot's for her but dismisses any feelings she has for Tori. She insists they are friends and this will sort itself out. She's denying her feelings, how long can she hold out. I'd like to get these out faster, but I'm trying to get everything just right. **

**Hopefully it will take less than a week to get the next one out. I do have the story planned out and there is lots of drama to come, I just need to set it up properly and not rush into things.**

**Thanks again to Invader Johnny for the original story idea and all the great suggestions and story ideas.**


	18. The Study Date

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 18 - The Study date.**

**No One's POV**

Jade went home and threw herself into her studies, spending at least 2 hours on her scriptwriting final project. Focusing on the upcoming finals helped Jade take a rest bit from the turmoil her mind had been going through. She was looking forward to the next night but, deep down there was a tension that she couldn't just shake. It was the tension between the two sides of her, that deep in her subconscious, were at war.

Due to the fact that she didn't sleep well the night before, Jade was worn out by 10 o'clock. So having most of what she wanted done, Jade called it a night and went to sleep. As she drifted off, she couldn't help wonder if dream Vega would appear again. At least a part of her did.

As Jade drifted through sleep, she dreamed as she always did. At one point she found herself walking through the large Victorian mansion used in the scissoring movie. With delight Jade explored the setting for her favorite movie. The house was full of old Victorian furniture and had blood red wallpapers with a simple flower pattern. When she walked into the expensively furnished living room she found Tori, sitting on an old couch reading a newspaper.

"Hey Jade, fancy meeting you here." The Latina, said with a bright smile.

"What are you doing Vega?"

Tori looked at the paper then back to Jade. "Reading the comic's. I love Heathcliff. He's so funny."

Jade couldn't help but think how odd it all was, but felt comforted by Tori's presence.

Tori then picked up a page of the comic section and handed it to Jade. "I finished with this part, you really should really read Cathy today. I think you'll love it."

But before Jade could read it, Tori spoke up again, and bounded off the couch. "On second thought let's get something to eat. Maybe we can find something in the fridge."

"Sure." Jade replied.

Tori had taken not more than 7 steps, when a figure burst out of the shadows of a small alcove. In a swift motion, the figure grabbed Tori's arm and jammed a pair of scissors right in her neck. Tori opened her mouth to scream, and grabbed at her neck but the figure shoved it in deeper. Her blood gushing out like a fountain, Tori fell to the floor dead.

Jade looked down at Tori's now bloodied corpse, then up to the figure. She recognized the figure instantly; it was Tawny the killer from the scissoring movies. She then yanked the scissors from Tori's neck and advanced on Jade, with a sinister smile.

But suddenly she shoved the scissors in her belt and thrust out her hand. "It's so nice to meet you Jade." Tawny looked to Tori and then back to Jade. "No need to thank me for getting rid of Tori for you. It's my pleasure, to do a favor for my biggest fan."

Jade was simply dumbfounded and couldn't think of a single thing to say. She numbly shook Tawny's hand.

Tawny then put her arm around Jade, "Hey lets go to the house from the movie Scream. I can introduce you to Stu and Billy. I'll tell you, Stu is a laugh riot, not too many killers are. Normally they're the brooding quiet type and most of them are actually rather boring.. So when you find a funny one, you'll hold onto to him. We're dating actually. If you like, I can set you up with Billy Loomis. Just what ever you do, don't mention Sydney Prescott. He gets a bit weird, when she gets mentioned."

Jade instantly shot awake in bed. "What in the fuck was that?"

Jade had many horror related dreams in her life and rather liked them. That one was just strange. Though she was loathe to admit it, the previous nights dream was much nicer. In fact, Jade found the image of Tori lying dead in a pool of blood rather disturbing. After a few moments of shaking off the strange dream, Jade tried to go back to sleep. For a bit, she tired to make some sense of the dream.

She eventually figured it was her subconscious putting together random ideas in her head. She had in fact seen both the movie "The Scissoring" and "Scream" in the last week.

"It's just nothing. It don't mean anything." Jade muttered as she turned over and closed her eyes to sleep.

The next morning, Jade felt more rested and in a better mood than the previous day. Though her mood was tempered by the lingering image of dead Tori. Jade found Naked Tori to be a bit more fun.

"Hey we still on for tonight?" Tori said as she walked up to Jade's locker, before class started.

Jade took long drink from her coffee cup. But before she answered, she glanced at the spot here the scissors had gone into her neck. But there was nothing there, which oddly was a relief. Even thought it was only a dream.

"Yeah." Jade said, letting a bit of enthusiasm show.

Tori smiled. "Great, I gotta get to class."

Nothing much out of the ordinary happened during the day itself. One thing of note happened, however. The one person on Morgan's clique who was never implicated in the scheme to burn Jade was, Morgan's Boyfriend, Ryan Parkhurst. For reasons unknown, he wasn't present when Jade was roofied and though questioned by police was never arrested.

He apparently had no problem moving on as he was seen sitting and getting close with Adria Horvath. She was a alto in honors choir and was known to have had eyes on him for a while. Morgan had tormented her from time to time so Adria was getting a bit of revenge herself, it seemed.

Jade couldn't help but notice that Tori seemed in a particularly bright mood this day. Though she didn't show it, Jade found it rather pleasing, for reasons she didn't bother to think about. Jade was still plagued with doubts of all kinds, but they seemed to not be bothering her as much today. That image of Tori with a scissors sticking out of her neck bothered her more than anything. It bothered her a lot.

About 20 minutes before 7 in the evening, Tori jumped off the couch as she heard the doorbell ring.

Opening the door she saw Jade standing there holding a book bag and wearing a smirk on her face.

"You're early?" Tori said with a bit of surprise.

Jade shrugged and started to turn around. "Fine, Later Vega."

Before she could take a single step Tori grabbed Jade's arm. All of a sudden Tori realized what she had just done and that was touch Jade. In each case where Tori had done that before, Jade had usually reacted very badly.

Instead she just smirked, turned round and walked in the house. "I hope you've ordered the pizza."

"Extra cheese and black olives, right?" Tori said as she closed the door.

"Tori's done her homework, very good." Jade said as she walked further into the house.

"I just ordered a minute a go. I was hoping to have the pizza here right as you arrived. I figured you'd be hungry and didn't want you to have to wait."

Jade, uncharacteristically, seemed to blush slightly. "Always thinking of me, huh."

Tori nervously bit her lip, trying not to show just how nervous really she was. "Just trying to be a good hostess. Come on let's go upstairs and study in my room."

Jade followed Tori into her room, where she had never been before. It was a typical high school girls room, A bed with a purple bedspread and pillows sat in one corner, cream colored walls with posters of various bands. A desk with a computer sat next to the window and on another wall was a an antique oak dresser. It looked bright and cheerful, just as Jade expected.

"I like your room." Jade said as she walked in.

"No you don't, but thanks anyway." Tori said as she came in behind her.

Jade smirked. "You're right, I hate it. I look all over this room and don't see one dead thing in it."

"So you have dead things in your room?" Tori asked cautiously.

"Lots"

"Why?"

Jade sat down on Tori's bed. "Because, dead things don't bother you with stupid questions."

Tori stood there wondering if it was a real insult or just another jest. Figuring it was the latter she pulled up the chair from her desk and sat down near Jade. All of a sudden Jade seemed to grow serious and got straight to work reviewing what they needed to study for history.

The pizza arrived shortly after and they took a short break to eat it, but Jade seemed intent on getting back to work. Tori was surprised by Jade's business like attitude and focus.

"I'm surprised how focused you are when you study." Tori remarked casually, after about an hour and a half a work.

Jade finished reading a paragraph on the 1976 Presidential Election and looked up with a critical eye. "What did you expect Vega?" There was a bit of an edge to her voice, as she said it.

Tori was suddenly aware of the tension in the room. "I…I don' know. You're so flippant and disregarding of things. I'm sorry."

Jade's eyes narrowed for a moment as she continued to look at Tori, who shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

Jade sat straight up and ran her hands through her hair. "Tori, I have a straight A average and I plan to graduate with one. You do something you do something right. I'm not close to my father but he taught me some things over the years. That was one of them. I'm not having my career derailed by a shitty grade. I hate studying, I'll admit that. But I need to do it, so I've learned to buckle down and get it done. Throw myself into it, like my father throws himself into his work. The only difference it that I'm able to pull myself out of it when I'm done."

Tori suddenly felt rather bad for questioning Jade's study habits. "I'm sorry Jade, I didn't meant to insult you. I was pleasantly surprised by your dedication and focus. I hope I'm not a bad study partner."

"Actually you're a pretty good one, Cat has the attention span of a 3 year old, Beck always wanted to touch me, I sooner be dead than study with Robbie and Andre can't study without music. I need peace and quiet. You've been quiet, focused and helpful. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this would go, but we work well together." Jade said with a nod to the head.

**Jade's POV**

I really wasn't sure how things would go. On top of all the things going through my mind, I had no idea how focused Tori would be on her studies. Of course, I'm in Tori's room sitting on her bed. A bed, I'm fairly certain she would like to do things to me on.

As I study, I find myself wondering exactly what things she would like to do to me. It's a bit distracting. But as a credit to my ability to focus, I managed to buckle down and get it done. Vega, thankfully has managed to stay focused as well and we've gotten a lot done. I'm pleased. I was sure she's annoy the hell out of me with some Vega nonsense. But she didn't.

By 9:30 we were pretty much done with what we needed to review for the final exam the next week. I was getting antsy by this point and wanted to do something. I can focus, but only for so long before I want to get out and do something, that and we were done anyway.

"Hey Vega, do you want to go out for a bit." I said breaking a silence in which we were both reading.

Vega looked up from her book, a look of surprise on her face. "Yes."

I then hopped off the bed and shoved my books in my book bag. "Come on lets blow this dump." I said with a smirk.

Vega instantly frowned and put her hands on her hips. "You couldn't go one evening without insulting either me or my room, couldn't you?"

I smiled. "No, so what do you want to do?"

Tori suddenly seemed to become more animated. "Hey there's a carnival at the fairgrounds, starting tonight. We can go there. They rides, games, food, all the fun stuff at a carnival.

Not my cup of tea, but Tori seemed happy about it. I liked her smile going to the carnival would keep it there. "Sure, let's go then."

So we hopped in my car and drove down to the fairgrounds, arriving there about 9:45. The carnival was in full swing. The midway was full of people having a good time; the air was filled with the smell of salted peanuts and the sounds of the various midway rides. It was a festive atmosphere which caused me to not quite mind the fact that I hate carnivals. That and Tori's continuing smile as we walk slowly down the midway.

It was a relaxing atmosphere and I allowed myself to enjoy Vega's company. We started by playing a few of the midway games, neither of won anything. I swear those bottles you're supposed to knock over are filled with cement. Tori practically nailed one head on and it barely moved. The first shot missed completely.

I laughed anyway. "Is that the best you can throw Vega?"

Tori looked at the remaining ball in her hand and handed it to me. "Ok, little miss know it all. You show me how it's done."

Oops, did I mention that I can't throw worth crap. But not one to back down, I took the ball in hand and threw it at the small pyramid of bottles.

Trying to look confident, even though I was I gave the ball my best shot. Surprisingly my aim was right on target and I nailed the 3 bottles just in the right spot. All three instantly tumbled over.

I smirked with triumph, even though it was totally lucky shot. "You were saying."

Tori's mouth parted slightly in shock.

I was distracted momentarily by the small teddy bear, which the booth attendant handed me. It was a small brown bear with a pair of blue overalls. I immediately handed it to Vega, who instantly gushed.

"My god it's so cute. Thank you Jade." Tori said as she clutched her new bear to her chest.

God, it's that smile, I literally have no defenses against it. Just seeing her happy makes me feel warm.

"Consolation prize. You're welcome Vega."

We continued on, talking and enjoying ourselves. The talk was light but fun. We spoke of our music tastes and how they differed. Though we did find several groups we both liked. We spoke of our future plans. Actually we speculated where our friends would end up.

"So where do you see Robbie ending up." Tori asked me.

"In a police interrogation room where Rex answers all the questions asked by the cops as the bloodstained Robbie no longer talks." I said darkly.

Tori protested quickly. "Jade that's mean. Robbie's a nice guy."

I schrunched my face for a moment as I thought. The Robbie half of his personality is nice, but the rex half is kind of demented. Or haven't you realized that Rex is just a piece of plastic?" At that point, I simply shook my head.

I could see the light bulb light up in her head as it dawned on her just how messed up Robbie probably was. "Oh Yeah…"

I then asked her. "Where do you think Beck will end up?"

Tori appeared to think for a moment, "Balding, wearing a horrible tie and announcing the lotto numbers after the 11 o'clock news."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I'm so used to his "Fans" always saying how great and successful he would be someday. The fact that Vega would have the audacity to think he wouldn't conquer the world was very refreshing. "You know what Vega, I think your right."

Tori next got some cotton candy which she started to eat. All of a sudden, Tori pointed to the Ferris Wheel, "come on, there's a short line, let's get on."

It only took a few minutes and we were happily, sitting together on the ride. Tori munched her cotton candy and I just enjoyed the ride.

The night seemed to have a magic air to it. It wasn't anything I couldn't quite describe specifically. But for once I was able to push aside, the dream, my doubts and all the other noise in my head and enjoy myself.

After several minutes the wheel slowed to a stop with us near the top. Below us was a sea of light and sound coming from the midway below. I looked over at Tori who was eating and thought how beautiful she was. I'm allowed to think that and not have it mean anything.

"You got some cotton candy on your cheek there." I said pointing to Tori's cheek.

Tori reached up to brush it off, but managed to put more there as her hands had plenty of the sweet stuff on them.

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're almost as bad as Cat." With that I licked my thumb and brushed the candy off her cheek. As I touched her, I suddenly felt tingly and giddy. How could this be, I just brushed some stupid cotton candy off her cheek and I suddenly feel all weird.

Why does this girl with the brown eyes get to me so easily? The thing is, when I touched her I could see her eyes soften. She liked it, I could see it plain as day. Maybe that was what made me tingly all inside; just the fact that my touching her brought her pleasure. Nobody's made me feel this way, I can't be gay. But I'm not sure, part of me wants to run and run far. But for now the other side of me is holding sway

For a moment then our eyes met. I suddenly felt how romantic the moment was and I didn't mind it. I felt more than a tingle this time; I looked down at her lips. Her perfume seemed to enchant me even further. I didn't even have to have to think of what to do next. My body started to lean forward, almost as if on its own. Our lips got closer and closer.

A sudden Jolt of the Ferris wheel as it sprung to life, broke the spell. All of a sudden I realized I was about to kiss Vega. That part of me that wanted to run, suddenly took over.

"Look's like our ride is almost up, you managed not to throw up and everything. Perhaps we can move you up to the bumper cars if you can handle it." I found myself saying the first snarky thing that came to my mind.

In addition to that, I immediately started to rationalize what had just or almost happened. I just got caught up in the moment. I know she likes me and it was a semi romantic moment. It meant nothing.

Tori smiled. "Funny Jade." She said sarcastically, but I could see the disappointment in her eyes. That didn't quite sit well with me, but I just pressed on as we got out of the Ferris Wheel.

"Hey Tori, Jade!" We heard a male voice call out from a few feet behind us.

Turing around we saw a young man with dark hair along with I presumed a few friends. He was Mike Giordano, a senior at Hollywood arts and Tori and I both had him in classes. Not as rich as Morgan Tate, but his family did well as they owned a local chain of bakeries. Neither of us knew him rather well, but he seemed a friendly sort and threw good parties. Being true to his Italian ancestry, his parties usually had a decent amount of real good food as well as beer.

"Hi Mike" Tori said cheerfully.

"Mike" I said.

"Hey, you gals want to come to a party on Saturday. It's my annual before finals bash. We'll have beer, food and a DJ. 5 dollars will get you in."

"Sure, we'll be there." Tori said instantly.

He smiled. "Great. It starts at 8 PM on Saturday. Um…I live at 520 Barker Road. If you have any additional questions just as me or my girlfriend Alicia. I think you guys' know her."

"Yeah." I said.

"Cool, see you then." He said as he and his group walked off.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Tori. "We'll be there? Are we a we now?"

Tori suddenly looked at her shoes as her face seemed to turn red. "I..I..didn't mean to presume. I figured maybe we could hang out or something. I think it's getting late we should go home."

Even though I was giving her a bit of a hard time, I felt very awkward about the moment on the Ferris Wheel. I was having a good time, but I felt the need to get away from Tori for now.

"Come on Vega, let's go." I said as I motioned towards the parking lot.

As we drove home a slight chill had fallen on the atmosphere between us. I had a real good time but that almost moment rather shook me. Tori, I think is really embarrassed. She's been avoiding eye contact with me.

After a short drive I pulled up in front of Vega's home. Though tempted to walk her to her door, I resisted it. Deep down, I was afraid of another moment like the one on the Ferris Wheel.

"See you Tommorrow Vega." I said with a polite nod.

Tori looked for a moment as if she was going to say something important. But what ever it was, she didn't say it.

"See you tomorrow Jade." Tori said as she got out of the car. "Thanks I had a good time." I could detect a slight hint of disappointment in her voice as she said it, however.

As I drove away, had mixed feelings about the whole night. It was all going so well until that almost moment. I've already rationalized it away, but I don't feel very convinced of it.

Part of me was worried something would happen at the party on Saturday, very worried. I'm not gay and I don't want to lead her on.

But the other part of me, can't stop thinking about the look in her eyes when I touched her cheek. I wanted to dismiss it as nothing, but I found myself unable to fully do so.

**This chapter turned out longer than I thought it would. But I'll freely admit, it's probably not my best chapter. A good chunk of it is filler. But it moves the story forward and that's what it needs to do.**


	19. Twenty Five Miles

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 19 – Twenty five miles**

**No One's POV**

As Tori came in the house she spotted her sister sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hey Trina."

The elder Vega turned her gaze from the TV to her younger sister. "I thought you were studying with Jade, where did you go?

"We did, but then we finished and went to the carnival for a bit."

Tori then proudly held up her new teddy bear. "Jade won me this."

"Oh Gee Wiz Tori, did she even give you her letterman sweater and ask you to go steady?" Trina said with the mocking tone of 1950's era teenager.

Tori's nostrils flared, as she quickly fumed with anger. With a stomp of her foot she stormed upstairs, muttering the word Puta. As Tori got to the top of the stairs, she heard her sister yell out. "Call me what ever you like Tori, but she's going to burn you and it won't bother her a bit."

A harsh glare was Tori's only reply, right before she disappeared down the hallway. The abrupt sound of a door being slammed shut was heard only a few moments later.

As Tori angrily dropped onto her bed and huffed. The night had gone well at least up to the strange moment on the Ferris Wheel. The moment was magical and for a moment it seemed that it was all coming together. But much to Tori's annoyance, a sodden jolt of the wheel brought the moment to a sudden frustrating halt.

After that, Tori noticed a sudden chill descend upon everything. Not quite as cold as a bone chilling Artic wind, but the temperature dropped several degrees. The party invite a few minutes later, seemed to take some of the awkwardness away for a moment but it soon descended again.

Not that Tori felt like the night was a disaster, it certainly wasn't. She did have a good time and nothing bad happened. She was just left feeling disappointed by the fact that it could have gone better than it did.

As she went to sleep, Tori's mind went back to the Ferris wheel, just before the jolt ruined the moment. A moment she wanted to stay in forever.

The next morning was unremarkable. Jade was friendly but a bit distant. Tori was thinking on and off about the party the next night and asked as lunch was ending if everyone was going.

"Hey who's going to Mike Giordano's party tomorrow night?"

"I have a funeral to go to." Andrea said with a sad shrug.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Who passed?" Tori said with a look of sympathy.

"My grandma's uncle. He was 92. I never met him, but she won't go alone, so I have to take her."

"Cat and I can't come either. I bought tickets for one of those dinner cruises. You know you go out on the boat and they serve you dinner while you cruise up and down the shore." Robbie proudly said.

Cat then answered. "Sorry Tori, It's just me and Robbie. I hope you have a good time."

Tori then looked to Beck, who had just drained the last of his soda. "Beck, you coming?"

He appeared to think for a moment. "Ummm…I'm not sure. I have to finish study for my Music Theory final and finish editing my student film for film class. So maybe, but doubtful. Sorry. I hear he usually has lots of food as well as drink."

Lunch had ended at this point and as the gang got up from the table Jade looked to Tori. "You still going Vega?"

Tori chuckled. "Someone's got to keep you out of trouble."

Jade smirked, "Why do you think their will be trouble?"

Tori looked incredulous, "Do you actually expect me to answer that question?"

The smirk vanished, but was replaced by a warm smile. "No, but I will drink much easier knowing that my guardian angel is on the case."

Tori immediately blushed and looked down in an attempt to hide it, but Jade did notice. The blush made Jade smile even more. "I'm having dinner out with my family so I'm not sure when I can get there. But I will be there. How about we meet at the party." Tori said as she looked back up.

I should be there around 8:30. I'll see you when I see you. Just don't leave me alone to long. I just might find myself tied to a chair again." Jade joked darkly, with a nod.

As Tori turned to walk away, she called back. "Don't worry, I'll be there. Just have a drink waiting for me."

The next day, which was Saturday, found both girls thinking about the party that was taking place that evening. Jade just looked forward to a good time. Thought she hoped there would be no trouble as there had been with the last two parties. She was comforted by the fact that Vega, he guardian angel, would be there. She tried not to give it anymore thought than that.

Tori was a bit more apprehensive about the whole thing. All through dinner with her family at the restaurant, she kept wondering and hoping that lighting would strike twice.

A little before 10 o'clock Tori stood before the door of Mike Giordano's home. It was a pretty good sized 2 story home in a upscale neighborhood. There were a few car's parked in front and the sound of music came from within.

The door swiftly opened after she knocked to reveal a dark haired girl Tori knew as Alicia Earnshaw. She was Mike Giordano's Girlfriend.

"Tori Vega. Right?" She said with a smile as she opened the door.

"Yeah."

Alicia motioned for Tori to come in. "Come on in, the party's already going. We have beer and pizza in the kitchen. DJ's out by the pool. Though Mike and I are charging 5 dollars to cover costs."

Tori pulled out a 5 dollar bill from her purse and handed it to Alicia.

"Hold on Tori, I need to mark your hand." Alicia said, as she took the money. Alicia then took out a small rubber stamp and pressed it down on the back to Tori's left hand. The stamp was of a rabbit.

"Hey do you know if Jade West is here?" Tori then asked.

Alicia nodded. "Yeah, she's here somewhere. She got here about an hour and a half ago. Try the rec room downstairs."

Tori turned and made her way through the house. All about there were groups of teens and other young people eating, drinking and having a good time. No one seemed very drunk at this point. Tori did make a point to wave and say hello to some of the Hollywood Art's student she happened to know.

A quick search of the main floor of the house revealed no Jade, so Tori found the stairs and headed down into the basement. It was a large open area with a bar, pool table, vintage 1960's juke box and even a small dance floor. The jukebox, surprisingly wasn't turned on as most of them were listening to the music that filtered down from the DJ up on the patio. There looked to be about 20 or so people in the basement. Tori was about to leave when she spotted Jade near the jukebox, sitting on a couch.

Tori took pause as she was taken a back by Jade's appearance. She was wearing a miniskirt and a tight green top. Just the sight of those pale legs, extended from the couch, made Tori's heart run faster.

Tori waved and moved towards Jade, who held up a cup for her.

"bout time you showed up Vega. Not only have I had to fight off every goon that wanted the seat next to me, but I had to babysit your drink. Now sit down and keep me company."

Since arriving just after 8:30 Jade had moved downstairs and staked out a nice spot on the couch and waited while she drank. While sitting there she had several attempts by guys to sit in the empty spot next to her. In each case, Jade quickly made it know that their presence there was not wanted. Eventually she resorted to glaring at anyone who came within 5 feet of the couch. There was only one person she wanted to sit there and that was Tori. The party was a fun one, but Jade found herself wanting Tori to be with her. A few drinks and those voices of doubt she been hearing in the last few days seemed to quiet down. The sight of Tori walking into the room brought an unexpected but pleasant jolt to Jade's heart.

Tori smiled and took the drink and sat down next to Jade. "What is it?"

Jade frowned. "Shut up and drink Vega, you're way behind."

Tori took a long drink. "Mmmmm…takes like lime. What is it."

"Swamp juice, Lime Vodka and limeade. Pretty good stuff."

Tori smiled and put her hand on Jade's shoulder, who didn't seemed to mind a bit. "So, kept out of trouble in my absence?"

Jade glared at Tori, but after a few seconds burst out laughing. "Yeah Vega, I've kept my hands to myself and avoided getting tied up. How was dinner with the family?"

Tori took another drink. "Boring as hell. It was our monthly Vega family night out. I couldn't wait to get here. Especially knowing you had a drink waiting."

Jade held up her glass, "Well, here's to a fun night."

"Agreed. Tori lifted up her glass and touched it to Jade's as they both took a drink.

Then Jade reached into her purse and pulled out a small rectangular box. It was about 2 inches wide and about 7 inches long and was wrapped with Black wrapping paper, tied with a crimson bow.

Tori's eyes widened. "Is that for me?"

Jade nodded and handed it to her. "A token of thanks for you. This is for pulling me out of the mess, I myself created. There's a lot of people that would have left me tied to that chair. They would have just walked away, you're not that kind of person. You're different. But in a good way."

There was a heartfelt sincerity in Jade's voice that she hadn't heard before. She then took the box, unwrapped and then opened it. Inside was a silver pair of scissors which had been shined to an inch of its life. It seemed to gleam in the light. In the center was a small design of a flower that was made up by the two halves of the handle along with a simple design along the edge. When the scissor was closed the flower would be present. Granted a pair of scissors as a gift would seem like and poor gift at best, coming from Jade it meant a lot and Tori knew that.

Tori felt moved and felt like she was going to cry. "It's beautiful. You shouldn't have."

"It's an antique, early 1890's"

Tori's Jaw dropped open as she held the pair up. "This must be worth a lot, I can't take this."

Jade's jaw hardened as she briefly looked frustrated. "Don't forget you're still my slave. I'm ordering you to take the gift."

Tori smiled and held it up to her chest, "Thank you. Jade."

"You're welcome Tori"

"I'm curious do you have other old ones like this?" Tori said as she examined the details of the pair of scissors.

"I have several pairs of antique scissors. One from the 1700's, it's a pair used in sail making. One of my favorites is a US Civil war, surgeon's scissors. It belonged to a US Army surgeon named Edgar Linton, who served in the 1864 Virginia campaign. At least that is what I was told. I imagine it being used on wounded after The Battle of the Wilderness or one of those other ones. I don't just collect, new ones I have a number of old and unusual ones. That one you would find in upscale home in the 1890's.

"This means a lot to me, thank you."

Tori held the scissors proudly for a moment before putting them carefully in her bag. She was immensely proud to have it and her heart leapt at the thought of Jade giving her such a gift.

"So Vega, What do you have planned for the summer? It does start after final's week, you know."

Tori took another drink. "I was thinking of getting a part time job. Buying that car wiped out my savings. I'll need to build them back up for college."

Jade chuckled. "You're going to have to work a lot of hours to pay for college."

"No, My dad said he'll help pay for it and student loans. But having extra money for books or maybe rent and security deposit for my first apartment."

Jade was impressed by Tori's planning ahead. "Very Practical. Do you know where you'll look for a Job?"

Tori tilted her head and looked up as she pondered. "I was thinking the local mall."

Jade playfully poked Tori in the ribs. "Savings Hell. You just want the employee discount at Forever 21 or Hot Topic. It'll be mighty tough to save anything when you spend your whole paycheck on clothes."

"No I won't" Tori suddenly protested.

"Yeah Right. You have a new outfit every other day Vega." Jade said sarcastically. "You had two new ones last week alone."

A smile crept to the corner of Tori's mouth. "And how would you know that? I didn't actually tell anyone."

Jade looked briefly at a loss for words. "Ah….Being a film maker I notice lots of things, it helps being observant."

Tori's mouth hung open for a moment as she gave Jade a look that said, I don't even remotely believe you. "I think you just find me fascinating, thats all."

Jade's lips closed tight for a moment. "Vega when was the last time I wore my green skirt?" Jade suddenly blurted out in a rather urgent tone of voice.

Tori answered before she realized she had fallen into a trap. "Monday"

Jade suddenly pointed at Tori. "Ah ha….It looks like I'm not the only one being a little overly observant."

"So what do you have planned for the summer?" A suddenly very nervous Tori said, changing the subject.

Jade flashed a knowing smile, but answered it anyway. "For your information, I plan to maybe go to some auditions, do some writing, hang out."

"Maybe we could hang out?" Tori said with a hopeful look.

"Why on earth would I want to hang with you!" Jade suddenly snapped, using all her acting skills to appear deadly serious.

A panic strick look appeared on Tori's face before Jade burst out laughing.

"Oh my God Vega, it looked like you were going to pee your pants for a second."

Tori stuck out her tongue at Jade. "Real funny Jade."

Jade was trying to think too much about what was going on with Tori. She was just trying to enjoy it and do what felt right. That nagging voice in her head had for one reason or another been mostly silenced.

They kept talking for more than an hour and a half and as the the time and various subjects in their conversation past,Jade felt more comfortable about opening up. Once again they both felt like something was falling into place. Though hard to describe, it felt like a deeper connection was being made. Jade like feeling that. She opened up to Tori about her strained relationship with her parents; her distant father and rather

"I met you father that one time, when you put on the play. He seemed decent." Tori couldn't think of a better word for a man who seemed very unemotional.

"He's an executive for a large financial firm. He specializes in mergers and acquisitions. He travels a lot." Jade paused for a moment as if she were remembering something.. "He used to send me postcards. From what ever city he was in. London, Berlin, Chicago. He stopped sending them when I said I thought they were stupid. I find myself missing them now."

Tori wasn't sure how to respond, so she asked about her mom. "I've never met your mother, what is she like?"

Jade sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "It's harder to describe. She's always getting into my personal life. Sometimes I get the feeling like she's trying to help me, but mostly it's like she's overbearing. It doesn't help that we really don't talk. She doesn't approve of my tattoos."

"I like your tattoo's. At least the one's I've seen." Tori said with a smile.

"Thank you. You know what. I'll deny this if you repeat it, right before I kill you, but sometimes I envy you and your family. You have Vega family night out, Vega family pot pie. You even have a horribly annoying sister to torment. Not to mention the fact that your parents actually talk to you. When my mom talks to me, she's analyzing something I've done, there's no emotional support or even a simple hug."

"I'm sorry for asking this Jade, but you seem to hate it when Cat hug's you."

Jade nodded as a sober look came to her face. "I do act that way, but I really don't. Outside of Beck, it was the only physical affection I get. I've known Cat for a long time, she's always hugged me."

Abruptly Tori reached over and pulled Jade into a tight hug, Though surprised, Jade quickly reciprocated and they held each other for a moment. A single feeling went through Jade at this moment, it was a feeling of deep satisfaction. Like some thirst deep down had finally been quenched.

After they broke the hug, Tori smiled. "You can have a hug whenever you want one."

Jade couldn't help but blush. "Thank you.

"Well, whatever your parents did, they did something right. I think you turned out pretty friggen spectacular.."

"You're not to bad yourself Vega." Jade said with a nod.

Tori looked to the stairs, "I can barely hear the music from upstairs, they should have put a speaker down here.

Jade pointed to a speaker on the wall. "They have speakers but their wired to the juke box here.

Tori got off the couch, plugged in the Juke Box and examined the selections. After a moment, she smiled. "This mostly has old Motown and R&B. Some pretty good stuff."

Looking down at the controls, Tori spotted a button marked "Random" She then looked to Jade. Come on Let's liven thing up down here. With that she hit the button.

A quick drum beat quickly came from the basement speakers followed by the first lines of the upbeat vocal that Tori recognized as Motown Legend Edwin Starr.

"_Come on feet, start moving"_

"_Got to get me there."_

Tori backed onto the dance floor and began to move back and fourth. "I love this song, Twenty Five Miles by Edwin Starr."

A confused looked came on Jade's face. "How in the hell do you know this old song?"

Tori laughed. "If you spend any time at Andre's house, you will eventually hear his grandma break out her Motown records. She loves all that old stuff."

"_Hey hey uh huh huh huh huh oh"_

_"Uh huh huh huh huh huh yeah"_

Tori began to dance, her hips swaying and her arms up in the air, much too Jade's amusement. She also began to mouth the words of the up-tempo song. Jade, not bothering to analyze what she was feeling, found her dancing to be strangely hypnotic.

_It's twenty five miles from home  
Girl, my feet are hurting mighty bad  
Now I've been walking a three day, two lonely nights  
You know that I'm mighty mad"_

By now Tori was attracting a lot of attention by dancing to an old song, but it was hard not to notice several people now tapping their feet with the beat.

Tori, then put up her finger and motioned for Jade to join her as she continued to mouth the words.

"_But I got a woman waiting for me  
That's gonna make this trip worthwhile  
You see she's got the kind of lovin' and a kissing  
A make a man go stone wild"_

Jade shook her head but was quickly taken by the hand out on to the dance floor by Tori.

"Dance with me Dammit." Tori said with Mock anger, to Jade.

_So I got to keep on walkin'  
I got to walk on, oh ho ho  
I, I, I, I'm so tired  
But I just can't lose my stride  
_

While Jade had been opening up to Tori and was pretty buzzed, she was a bit nervous about dancing with Tori. Though deep down, she very much enjoyed watching Tori dance to the old song. Jade found it, funny, sexy and brave all the same time. As the song continued Tori took her hands and pulled her close, dancing a little like they did on dirty dancing.

At this point, several others got into the spirit and began to dance as well. But Jade focused on Tori who now danced seductively right in front of her. Jade found herself not being bothered by it, in fact it felt right.

Giving herself into her instincts she slid in slightly closer to Tori as they dance. Tori at one point slid her hands up Jade's side, sending a tingle through her. Oblivious to anything but the music and each other Tori and Jade danced, their bodies getting closer and closer. It was happening so fast, but like a roller coaster ride, Jade was enjoying it.

Soon another old up-tempo song came on; Nowhere to Run by Martha & the Vandella's. Jade found herself not wanting to stop. By now Jade was fully into dancing with Tori, their bodies moving almost in concert only inches from each other. Sometimes not distance at all.

"What in the hell is happening to me?" Jade thought as she ran her hand up Tori's arm.

By the third song that came on; Twisting the night away by Sam Cook, Jade felt almost high. She had never she hadn't felt like this before. It fight right, more right than anything. She didn't even allow herself to think about any of it. In fact, it all felt just like that moment on the Ferris wheel.

At this point the Jade and Tori's eyes locked on each other. Jade suddenly felt a surge of emotion suddenly hit her like a out of control truck. She wanted to Kiss Tori and she could tell that Tori very much wanted to kiss her.

No longer able to control her emotions, Jade leaned in as she focused on Tori's lips.

"Woah, Babe Sandwich" A loud and sadly familiar voice suddenly shouted out. An instant later, Jade felt a bump as someone collided with her.

Jade's stomach suddenly felt like it was filled with sand, as she recognized the duo that had suddenly appeared on either side of them. It was Chad and Allen from the time they had their play date at Nozu.

"Holy Cow, we found our dates!" Chad proclaimed proudly.

"High five" Allen said as he raised his hand and was high fived by Chad.

Jade remembered seeing a brief look of frustration the night before when their kiss got ruined. Looking on Tori's face, Jade could see it had returned. Only this time it was about a thousand times more intense.

Tori let out an almost primal scream and moved to the couch.

"Hey they want to sit with us." Chad yelled to his friend. But Tori instead of sitting down reached into her purse and pulled out the scissors that Jade had given her. An instant later, Tori was in Chad's face with the business end of the scissors poked onto his chest. Only a little more pressure and it would go right in.

"Look asswipe, we tried to give you the hint that we wanted you two losers to get lost the last time. So I guess I'll have to be a bit more direct, if you're not out of my face in five seconds, I'm going to gut you like a fish" Tori growled.

Jade wasn't sure if it was the scissors poked into his ribs for the murderous, frustrated look in Tori's eyes, but Chad abruptly ran towards the stairs.

She then turned her attention to the very surprised Allen. "Are you going to leave me and my date alone or do you want to die, right here?" Tori made a point to pronounce the words "right here," Very clearly.

"Eeeep" Was all he said as he himself ran for the stairs, a look of terror on his face.

Jade was flabbergasted, she had never seen Tori show such murderous fury before. At the same time she was horribly impressed.

As Tori turned her attention back to Jade, the goth smirked. "Bad Ass Tori, I like that."

Tori then took Jade's hand, it felt so smooth and soft. Very unlike Beck's rough hands. Jade liked smooth and soft. "I'm sorry I described you as my date, but I like you Jade. I'm just going to say it. Do you want to go somewhere private?"

If Jade wasn't already surprised, she was now totally blown away. She said the very first thing that came to her mind.

"Yes"

**Another long chapter. I hope you guys have enjoyed it. More Jori goodness in the next chapter. **

**Thanks to Invader Johnny for his help with this chapter.**

**Puta = Whore**

**Lyrics for Edwin Starr's song Twenty Five miles were used without permission. In any case, it's a fun old song.**


	20. Mirror Image

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 20 – Mirror Image**

**No One's POV**

Tori, not letting go of Jade's hand, quickly lead Jade upstairs. She felt a sense of urgency in it all; or several reasons actually. One the idiots might actually get braver and or stupider and try to make passes at them again. Secondly, Tori just didn't want to miss her opportunity. She wanted Jade alone, with no distractions, no interruptions.

Up out of the basement, then through the crowded main floor the pair walked. The party was in full swing now and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Finally they reached the upstairs and headed towards the bedrooms.

Tori spotted a door at the end of a hallway she guessed might be the master bedroom. The door was closed, but Tori simply barged in.

Though unlit the girls could see the room itself, was obviously the master bedroom. It a decent sized room. It had a large king sized bed, along one wall was two matching oak dressers. Next to that was a closet.

Along another wall, to the left of the door, was a large antique vanity with large mirror. In the corner, sat an enterinment center with two chairs in front of it.

The lights were off, but Tori and Jade could see a young couple making out in the bed.

"Hey! We were here first." The guy said, sounding very annoyed.

"Find your own room." The girl then said.

"Get Lost" Jade hissed.

Figuring that was going to happen, Tori pulled out 30 dollars and tossed it on the bed.

"Here's 30 bucks, get yourself a real room."

The guy looked at Tori and Jade, then the money and then to the girl with him. He then scooped up the money and took his girl by the hand. "Come on baby, Let's go."

Jade was fully expecting a scene, but Tori's bribe quickly solved the problem. A moment later, the guy and girl quickly exited the room.

Tori then shut the door behind them and grinned.

Jade still a little stunned by the events in the last five minutes, leaned up against a wall. "I'm surprised you didn't just threaten to kill, them like the doof's downstairs."

Tori then moved and sat on the bed, near the pillows. "The goon's downstairs, deserved it. These two didn't."

There was an awkward moment of silence which Tori filled by picking up a book which was sitting on the night stand next to her. She then held it up to the light coming in from the window to see the title. Wordlessly she put it back down on the nightstand.

"Now you have my curiosity, what book was that?" Jade said, trying to cover up the fact that she was filled with a giddy nervousness.

"Wuthering Heights. Can't say I'm familiar with it." Tori said, her voice trailing off. It had sunk in that she had just admitted to Jade she liked her. Though Jade willing came up here, Tori still feared the reaction.

Jade had heard of it, but hadn't read it either. It was supposed to be very good. "I'm pretty sure you didn't take me up here to discuss books. Actually I believe you said something to me right before I came up here." Jade said as she indulged herself by taking several steps forward.

"I like you Jade. As in I'm attracted to you." Tori said, trying to recreate to confidence she displayed only a few minutes ago when she threatened to kill Chad and Allen.

Jade took a few steps close, so she was only a few feet from Tori. Hearing Tori admit her feelings caused her heart to begin to beat faster. Something that actually caught her a bit off guard. But again, Jade didn't allow herself to think. "Now where getting somewhere. Though to be honest, I already new that." Jade said

Even in the dimly lit room, Jade could see Tori's face react in surprise as a gasp escaped from her mouth. "You knew?"

"You're terrible at hiding your jealousy, Vega." Jade said as she sat down next to Tori. Her heart began to beat faster as she did. Had the lights been on Jade was sure she would have been able to see the redness in Tori's cheeks as she blushed. That pleased her for some reason.

Tori avoided Jade's scrutinizing gaze for a moment then looked back. "Do you like me?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Instead of thinking about it, Jade did what her body told her to do. What it told her to do downstairs, on the Ferris wheel and in that rather graphic dream she had. Ever since Tori had taken her hand downstairs, she felt her something stirring inside of her. The feeling had been building and Jade could no longer control it.

She gripped the back of Tori's neck and pulled the Latina in close pressing her lips against Tori's. Startled at first, Tori quickly reciprocated the kiss. Unlike Beck's hard kisses, Tor's were light, feathery and full of feeling. But Jade didn't analyze the kiss either, she just let it take her.

Jade then felt Tori's hand slowly slip around her back, pulling her in slightly closer. Jade responded by deepening the kiss as the storm of feelings inside of her began to rage.

Tori took Jade's sudden kiss as a resounding yes. Actions speak louder than words, Tori thought to herself as Jade deepened the kiss.

Jade was amazed as to how easy it all was. Granted she knew a kiss was very easy, her body seemed to accept the kiss easily.

As the kiss deepened further, Tori opened her mouth. Jade took the opportunity and moved her tongue in automatically. Further letting her passions run away with her, Jade pushed Tori down onto the bed and managed not to break the kiss.

After a few minutes of crazed kissing, Jade broke the kiss. Simply because she needed to breathe.

"I'm still waiting for my answer Jade?" Tori said with a devilish grin.

Jade hissed and pretended to knee Tori in the crotch. "If you had balls, I would so knock them up into your stomach."

Tori's eyes bugged at the strange image, but burst out laughing a second later. "Can one even do that?"

Jade just laughed with a shrug. "I don't know, I was improvising." Jade paused with a curious look. "You don't have any surprises in store for me?"

Tori scoffed, but then gave Jade a quick kiss. "You the consumate actress and that's the best line you could come up with."

A devious smirk came to Jade's face. "Now you're pushing it Vega. I wonder if Chad is still here?" The Goth said as she looked to the door.

Tori put her hands around the back of Jade's head and pulled her in for a deep kiss. A kiss that showed the depth of her still developing feelings. It warm and soft, but at the time passionate. Feeling Vega's lips pressing on hers, seemed to drive Jade's body wild. Everything seemed to be moving faster, her heart, her breathing. Jade let the current of emotion she was feeling carry her away.

As they paused, Tori took a moment to run the back of her hand across Jade's cheek. "God, your beautiful Jade."

It was one thing to know that someone liked you but to hear Vega actually say she was beautiful, threw Jade for a loop. Her mind didn't know how to process it. As she had all the evening she said the first thing that came to her mind, no further thinking than that.

"Thank you. Your beautiful too." As Jade said it, she realized she meant it. She didn't have to think it any further through, it was just the truth and she knew it.

The pair resumed kissing, growing more and more oblivious to anything else but each other. The music drifting up from the patio below and the lights that streamed into the window seemed to fade away. Even time seemed to fall away as the pair continued. Soon they were both in a world that contained only each other. Jade knew that whatever force tore lose in her, couldn't be stopped.

Eventually Tori flipped Jade over on to her back and got on top of her. Then Tori moved from Jade's lips down to the right side of her neck. Though some part of her wanted to mark Jade as hers, Tori simply planted kiss after kiss on the Goth's neck. Jade's eye's promptly rolled up into the back of her head as Tori continued her pleasurable assault on her neck.

"Ahhhh…." Jade half moaned involuntarily.

Tori paused and moved up to Jade's ear. "Looks like I have a satisfied customer." Tori whispered in Jade's ear.

"Stop your yapping Vega and get back to work." Jade instantly demanded.

Tori just laughed and licked Jade's ear before moving back down to her neck.

"My god, what is she doing to me, I'm already getting wet. I don't care, just as long as she keeps going it." Jade thought to herself. Jade also found herself wishing that erotic dream she had, hadn't ended so quickly now. But while Tori worked on her neck, jade just ran her hands through Tori's hair and gently across her tanned skin.

Tori liked Jades hand's in her hair, actually she liked Jade's hand pretty much everywhere on her body. After a short while, Tori moved around to the other side of Jade's neck.

After satisfying herself with Jade's neck, Tori went back to make out with Jade again. Just feeling her lips pressed against hers was heavenly.

For a time the pair made out as if there was not tomorrow. Abruptly Tori sat back up on the bed and pulled off her shirt. Jade's eyes marveled at the sight of Tori only wearing a bra. Even in the dim light it was a sight she liked. Instinctively she sat up, reached her arms behind Tori's back and undid the clasp of Tori's bra.

Jade didn't think it was even more possible but her heart started to beat even faster than it did; threatening to beat its way out of her chest.

Not wanting to be left behind, Jade quickly started to pull off her shirt but was quickly assisted by Tori.

"Someone's bit eager, aren't they?" Jade said with a smirk as Tori pulled off her bra. She felt exposed, but the awkward feeling past quickly as she gently lay back down to let Vega do her stuff.

The sight of Jade laying back, her breasts exposed was a happy sight to Tori. She found herself straddling Jade starring at them.

Tori sat back and put her finger to her lips. "My oh my, I have a choice now which one should I start with first. How do I ever chose." She said in playful tone.

Jade just shook her head. She actually found it a bit amusing; Tori's playful attitude.

Tori pointed her finger in the air.

"I know. Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum In a dish, how many pieces do you wish?" As Tori spoke she alternately pointed her finger to either the right or left breast."

Tori then looked to Jade as if she expected an answer. "Jade?"

"I'll give you a number Vega. Two." Jade said, as she flipped Tori off Tori with both hands.

Tori grinned. "One, two and you are not it." By the end she was pointing at the left breast.

Jade in frustration suddenly blurted out. "Dam it Vega, stop teasing me and….." Jade never got a chance to finish her sentence, as Tori suddenly put her mouth on the already rock hard nipple of Jade's right breast. Instantly she began to suckle and flick the nipple with her tongue.

"Fuck…." Jade muttered, as whatever she was thinking was instantly obliterated. Tori took her time, paying special attention to each breast, taking time to licking, massaging, feeling, biting and suckling on each breast. Jade mostly just made happy moaning noises. Tori may not have done this before, but she certainly had the instinct for it, Jade thought.

Jade's fingers had found Tori's own breasts which she had begun to play with. Wanting more Jade took the initiave and pulled out from under Tori and flipped her on her back.

Jade found herself attacking Tori's breasts with a, quickly putting Tori into the throws of ecstasy. Jade was surprised as how natural what she was doing it all felt. Not to mention the fact, just doing it was getting her incredibly turned on.

A moment later, Jade felt a single hand caress her stomach and slide down her pants. Her body seemed to shudder as Tori reached down into Jade's crotch. Her body began to quake as Tori reached into and ghosted her fingers across her wet mound.

"Ohhh…..Someone's excited tonight." Tori said as she pulled out her hand.

As Jade was deciding to go all the way, Tori suddenly swore. "Shit, is that what time it is?"

Jade popped her head up from Tori's chest to see the alarm clock on the night stand. It read 12:21 AM.

"It says 12:21 AM Tori, Why?" Jade said as she sat up.

Tori hopped off the bed and grabbed her shirt. "I'm am so so sorry Jade. Even though I saved the day last week, my dad wasn't too thrilled I was at a party with alcohol. He wasn't even going to let me go out this weekend. So I told him I was going to study at Andre's house and it may take a while. He let me go ahead but said I had to be home by 12:30."

"What?"

Tori threw her shirt on and quickly threw it on, while shoving her bra in her purse. "I need to leave now or I'll be late. If I miss curfew, it will be month before I can go out again."

Tori then sat down on the bed next Jade and took her hand. Jade could tell she looked a bit upset. "Tonight was great and I'd really like to see you again. I am so sorry, I forgot to tell you that I had to leave. Please forgive me. I'll see you at brunch tomorrow morning and we can talk more. Maybe we could set up a date."

Jade was stunned by Tori's suddenly having to leave, but understood. "It's ok, Vega. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Tori smiled and kissed Jade. "To be continued, how about that."

A second later, Tori tore out of the room and shut the door behind her.

It had all started so fast and ended so abruptly. Jade's mind was still spinning her body still very worked up. She sat there in the dim light, listening to the music from downstairs, trying to get a hold on things.

After a moment she turned to look and saw her reflection in the large antique vanity mirror. The lights were off but she could see a dim half naked figure, with messed up hair sitting on a bed.

Jade starred at that reflection for a long time, as it all started to sink in. All the things she had been avoiding was staring back at her, with her own face. Thoughts flooded he m.

"I was about to have sex with a woman."

"I wanted to have sex with a woman"

"That woman was Tori Vega."

A whole series of additional thoughts suddenly thundered through her head.

"If I see Vega, I'll have to tell my parents.

"how will they react?" Jade heard her dad's voice scream "get out you freak!"

Jade had no idea if her dad would react in such a way but the fear was very much present.

"What would the other's Cat, Andre, Robbie….Beck think?"

"How would other's at school think of my coming out? How would it affect my reputation?" An unlikely thought as it was, Jade thought it none the less.

"Would it affect my chance for a career?"

She didn't want to think she was gay but at this point it was hard to deny.

Jade after several minutes could still feel her heart racing as all those thoughts and realizations hit her like a truck. Her hands suddenly began to shake. She found herself wishing Tori hadn't left, she needed to feel safe.

Jade like everyone else had fears, but since she was a child disliked showing them. She felt this drive to be the tough one, to be fearless. So in time she became very good at mastering her fears, denying them. She wasn't perfect and sometimes they would show, Jade hated those moments.

Despite her attempts to keep her fears locked away, Jade due to a traumatic event in the 3rd grade had developed one particular phobia. Jade was terrified of dolphins. Just the thought of one being near her, will cause Jade get very nervous. Jade couldn't even get herself to watch the 1960's television show Flipper, which of course was about a dolphin. That of course is main reason she refused to go into the ocean. But that aside, Jade largely managed to keep a handle on her fears.

But starring at her half dressed form in the mirror, she faced all the uncertainties that had suddenly arisen. Doubts about her sexuality, feelings for Tori, reactions of others amongst other. This time she couldn't hide her fears, they came straight at her with a vengeance.

Jade realized she was starting to suffer a panic attack. It wasn't her first panic attack ever, but it was her first non-dolphin related one. A terrible sense of fear and doom suddenly gripped like she was in a vice. As she hurriedly put her bra back on she felt like it was cutting off her breathing. Looking at the walls, Jade could have sworn that they were closing in.

"I…I…I…Need to get out of here." Jade said as she threw on her shirt. Jade could feel the sense of fear rising by the second. All that happened seemed to overwhelm her with anxiety and fear.

As soon as she was dressed she opened the door and moved quickly down the stairs. The others were having a great time, but Jade was freaking out.

She felt as if every eye in the party was suddenly on her, like she was now a subject of ridicule. Jade just needed to get out, get somewhere safe before she completely came unglued.

She felt tears coming soon as she got to the bottom of the stairs. The door was only a few feet away and Jade hurried to it.

Reaching the door, Jade threw it open and rushed outside. But as she had not been looking, before she made it a foot she ran straight into the person who was about to enter the party.

It was Beck.

He put his hand on her shoulder and flashed a warm smile. "Hey Babe, I got done and was able to make it. How are things going?"

Still freaking out Jade looked at Beck, her mouth hanging open. All she could say was.

"Beck."

**Well, things are certainly getting interesting. But sadly, Jade had a panic attack. Too much, too fast can cause anyone problems for anyone. I guess she wasn't as strong as she let she was on to be. She was also in denial, which probably didn't help things either.**

**I want to give another plug for the story I have been assisting 27milestogo in writing. It's her work, I've just helped a small bit. But in any case, I think it's a great Jori story and worth a read. It's called. "For a change."**

**Since things have gotten rather steamy, I'm changing the rating of this story from T to M.**


	21. Raindrops keep falling on my head

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 21 – Raindrops keep falling on my head.**

**No one's POV**

Tori rushed home and was only 3 minutes late. As she entered, she saw her dad on the couch watching TV.

"Hey honey, how was studying?"

Tori nodded. "It was fine, Sorry I was a few minutes late. We got caught up in what we were doing and lost track of time."

David Vega glanced at the clock then back to Tori. "It's only a couple of minutes. That's fine."

Tori breathed a sigh of relief. Though she felt terrible for leaving Jade so suddenly, she was glad to have made it home in time. Had she been very late, she wouldn't have been able to go out for a month and that would have meant no dates with Jade.

"I'm going up to bed dad, good night." Tori said, as she headed up the stairs. She also wanted to get out before her father noticed she was no longer wearing a bra. It was stuffed in her purse.

"Good Night, Tori." David Vega said, as he turned his attention back to the old movie he was watching.

Tori bounded up to her room and decided to get ready for bed right away. She was a bit tired and wanted to get to sleep. She just wanted to see Jade again.

Though physically a bit tired, Tori's mind wasn't. It kept racing with all the possibilities that have opened up. Having Jade as a girlfriend, coming out to her parents. Though that really didn't bother her.

Sleep didn't come easy for Tori, she simply was too excited to sleep. She tossed and turned for more than an hour before she finally drifted off.

The next morning, Tori was even more excited, it was the brunch and Tori would get a chance to see Jade again. She planned to asked Jade on a proper date when she got the chance. Tori took the time to look her very best, picking her very cutest outfit and putting a bit more time into her makeup and hair.

She arrived at the building with several minutes to spare. Tori didn't want to be too early or too late. She just hoped that she would get a seat next to Jade.

Tori entered the lobby and pushed the up button and waited happily in the marble and wood paneled lobby of the Parson's building. Her destination was of course was Sikowitz's choice for brunch, The Skyline room. The restaurant itself was located on the 45th floor of modern Parson's building. Tori had eaten there before and very much liked their brunch buffet.

But Tori's mind wasn't on food or where she was going to eat. Tori's mind was on only one thing Jade West. Her thoughts danced with Joy when she thought of Jade's slow kisses on the nape of her neck, only just a few hours earlier.

"I so want her to be my girlfriend" Tori said in an almost giddy fashion.

Ever since she had parted with Jade, her mind had been racing. Thought of sex, marriage, cuddling, babies all coursed through Tori's brain. She was amazed that as little sleep she got, how totally invigorated she felt.

She knew she would feel even more invigorated when she saw Jade.

A second later, Tori's heart leapt to hear Jade's voice come from behind her.

But as she turned around, heard heard a second voice. It was Becks.

"I've had the brunch here, it's great."

Something registered in Tori's mind that Beck and Jade seemed to be arriving at the exact same time, but she quickly dismissed it.

Just as Tori finished turning around, Jade and Beck rounded the corner. At the same time the elevator right next to her chimed its arrival.

"Oh, Hi Tori." Beck said in a particularly cheerful tone.

But Tori hardly noticed the warm greeting. Instead she was looking down at Jade's left hand. Which was holding Beck's right hand.

Her mind which was full of happy dancing thoughts, suddenly ground to a halt. Jade holding Becks' hand, seemed like an impossible thing.

"Cool, no waiting for the elevator." Beck said, as they moved to the open doors.

Tori who was beyond stunned, just walked inside the elevator and was followed in by Jade and Beck. Tori could feel her heart begin to race as the doors closed. All of a sudden she began to feel claustrophobic.

Tori tried to calm herself and leaned up against one of the side walls of the elevator mirroring Jade and Beck on the other side. Tori's heart sank even further as she could see that they were still holding hands.

"You're back together?" Tori said haltingly, as she looked to Beck than to Jade. It was in Jade's eyes did Tori see what appeared to be a momentary flash of guilt which quickly vanished.

"Yep, Jade and I are back together and this time, I'm not letting her go." Beck said sounding extremely happy.

Tori couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was surreal. But the worst part is, that Tori couldn't look away. She couldn't cry, scream, run away, curse or do any of the other 100 things she wanted to do. All of the dreams she had been thinking that were in her grasp only a few minutes previous suddenly were shattered. She felt helpless; in fact all she could do was just stand there and pretend she wasn't dying inside. Feeling like her heart had been kicked straight out of her chest. Her stomach felt like it suddenly shriveled up as the sense of betrayal flooded her. Standing there, Tori actually began to physically feel nauseous.

Beck of course kept talking about how happy he was and his immediate plan's with Jade. Tori plastered on a fake smile and just nodded, paying almost no attention to what he was saying.

"Hell in a box" Tori thought quickly. All she wanted to do was get out of this elevator, so at least she could look away. She had to keep starring at Jade, who now appeared to be amused by Beck's enthusiasm. No longer could Tori see the girl she had been with the previous evening, all she could see now was Becks loving girlfriend. Tori wondered if that Jade ever really existed at all. She felt like she had been on the receiving end of a cruel joke, something Jade has been very well known for.

The elevator ride lasted 1 minute and 13 seconds, all the while a muzak version of old song, "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" played over the loudspeaker. The hideous irony of the song that happened to be playing during the hellish ride, didn't escape Tori's notice. It was the longest and probably the most painful, 1 minute, 13 seconds of Tori's entire life. Having everything you wanted and then suddenly having it ripped away from you. All the while you had to watch it happen and you couldn't look away.

She had no idea how she managed it, but Tori just put on a happy calm facade. On the inside Tori was completely devastated.

The elevator quickly glided to a halt and the doors opened, Jade quickly ushered Beck out the doors and toward the long rectangular table where the class was seated.

Tori followed behind, feeling like she was in a daze. She scarcely noticed her hand's had begun to shake.

Suddenly a line from an opera sprung into her head. She remembered it from music class.

"Vesti la guibba"

It was a song from the Italian Opera, Pagliacci. The phrase Vesti la guibba meant, put on the costume. Though not a fan of opera, Tori happened to like that song. The song itself was powerful, emotional and very sad. It was about a about a circus clown, who discovers his wife has been unfaithful, but he has to put on his makeup, costume and perform. He needs to act happy for the audience and pretend his heart isn't broken.

That's exactly what Tori did. She clenched her fists to stop her shaking hands and put on her most convincing fake smile. She wondered if she would ever really be able to smile again. The amount of pain she felt was almost unbearable.

As she approached the long rectangular table, Tori noticed that Jade and Beck sat on the end of one side. Tori picked the same side but opposite end, so she couldn't see Jade. It was away from her friends but she simply couldn't do it.

"Hey how was the party?" Cat asked from further down the table.

Tori involuntarily cringed but Cat appeared not to notice. Instead Tori put on a fake smile and answered. "It was fine."

"Did anything exciting happen. Though I doubt you could top last week." Robbie said with a laugh.

"NO!" Tori said, quickly.

Tori found the entire conversation extremely painful and diverted her attention away from her friends as soon as she could.

Using all her acting skills, Tori made it through brunch. She spent her time chatting with some of the students who rarely seemed to talk in class. Though after brunch, she couldn't really remember what anyone really said. He friends would talk to her occasionally but Tori would only answer questions and didn't initiate any conversations. Sikowitz made a speech at one point, thanking everyone for their hard work. It was agonizing, but she finally made it.

Not being able to stand acting happy anymore, Tori got up, said a quick goodbye to Andre, Robbie, Cat and Sikowtiz and walked calmly to the bathroom. They seemed puzzled by her early departure, but only said goodbye. Tori was the first to leave, which was unlike her. Though they all assumed she simply was tired from the night before.

Alone, inside the bathroom her hands began to shake as she allowed herself to feel the stinging pain that she had been suppressing for the last hour.

"I need to get out of here." Tori muttered, as she went into the stall.

Finishing quickly, Tori went to the sink to wash her hands and splash some water on her face. It was a vain attempt to try and wake herself up, from what was now a waking nightmare. But as she used her shaking hands to splash water on her face Tori heard the door open.

"Please, No." Tori said to herself as she lifted her head up and turned.

It was Jade or course. But now there was a vulnerable, guilt ridden look to her face. But that had no effect on the Latina whose heart, by this point, had turned to dust.

"Look Tori, I didn't..." Jade started to say before Tori sharply cut her off.

"Jade, when this started, you wanted me to leave you alone. You get your wish. Don't ever fucking talk to me again!" Tori said with an icy, harsh tone and a poisonous glance to boot.

Before the stunned Jade could even respond, Tori walked out of the bathroom.

Tori rushed past Beck without saying a word to him and made a beeline for the elevator. At this point the door was closing so she jumped in. The elevator had a family in it so Tori just stood there and watched the floor indicator signal the floors as they past.

She hadn't been able to cry since she found out, but by this point she didn't want to cry. Tori didn't want to waste a single tear on Jade. When the elevator got to the bottom floor she walked as quickly as she could to her car. She wanted to put miles between her and Jade.

Tori sat down in her car and just sat there, trying to handle the overwhelming pain she was now in. In addition to that there was the sense of betrayal. Tori even felt humiliated, abandoned and full of rage.

She covered her face and wished it would all go away, the pain, Jade everything. Tori just wanted to block out the pain.

She thought back to her paper on the Pink Floyd Album, The Wall. The protagonist, Pink builds an emotional wall around himself to deal with the pain. Sitting in the car, Tori now knew why he did.

She reached into her glove box and pulled out Pink Floyds, The Wall and put it in her cd player. She knew the perfect song for how she felt at this point. More to the point, she didn't want to feel anything, anymore…

Tori started the car, selected the song and hit play. As she pulled out she began to sing along to Roger Water's angry vocals.

_I don't need no arms around me._

_I don't need no drugs to calm me_

_I have seen the writing on the wall,_

_Don't think I need anything at all._

_No, don't think I need anything at all._

_All in all it was just bricks in the wall_

_All in all you were all just bricks in the wall. _

As she tore out of the parking lot, Tori Vega's emotional wall was already half built. She got home and went straight to her room, not talking to anyone.

Trina later on noted to herself that from she could hear, was Tori seemed to be listening to the same album over and over all day.

It was Pink Floyd's The Wall.

**Don't hate me please. They've had a pretty bad setback, but as you might have noticed the story does not say complete, now doesn't it. All I can say is, that there is some Bade in this story, this is not a Bade story. This STILL is, a Jori story. Invader Johnny and I have it planned out. **

**This story is about not only the walls we put up around ourselves, but how choices we make can either tear down or build up those walls.**

**Besides, if you think it was painful to read the scene where Tori's in the elevator, try being in the elevator. I have a small confession to make, I didn't actually write the elevator scene; I just recounted it from memory. The circumstances surrounding and a few details have been changed, the part in the elevator is pretty much as I described it. It's a true story folks.**

**Me, the person I was with the night previous and their significant other, whom they had just made up with that morning. I thought I had made real connection with that person and thought I had a chance until the moment when they arrived by the elevator. It was a horribly awkward scene, where I had to smile and ignore the fact that I felt like I had just been kicked in the stomach. As painful as it was, it makes for good drama. **

**Lyrics for Another Brick in the Wall Part III were used without permission.**

**Keep reading…**


	22. Grey

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else but not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 22 – Grey**

**No One's POV**

"Beck, can we go somewhere and talk."

Those are the words that slipped out of Jade's mouth, after she ran into Beck at the party. It was very easy to say. Tori and Jade's feelings for the Latina, was not only and un uncertainty but a loss of control and that terrified Jade. After that, it was all too easy to fall back into Becks arms and tell him she wanted to get back with him. It was familiar and safe territory and Beck was happy to have her back. Jade felt bad of course, but she like many other do, she just lied to herself. People believe what they want to believe sometimes and Jade did just that.

She told herself that she had no real feelings for Tori and the Latina was better off with someone else. Sure she'd be hurt, but she would quickly recover and be back to the annoyingly happy girl she once was.

It was all too easy, to say and believe those things.

Jade had prepared a speech for the next day at brunch. Her carefully constructed plan involved her pulling Tori quietly aside and letting her down as gently as possible. Saying that she was still in love with Beck and what she did the previous night was a mistake and how terribly sorry she was for giving Tori the wrong impression. Jade would of course then say she still wanted to be Tori's friend.

But fate had other ideas, Tori just happened to be at the elevator at the same time Beck and Jade showed up. In an instant, her plan was in ruins and Jade could sense that Tori was badly upset. She hid it pretty well, but Jade knew. Jade was furious at how hit had turned out, the best she could do was try and talk with Tori after brunch.

That didn't go well either.

Jade was stunned by the amount of hatred in Tori's eyes. Those soft brown eyes which only a few hours ago, made Jade's soul shake, were now filled with hatred. Those venomous words stung even more.

"Jade, when this started, you wanted me to leave you alone. You get your wish. Don't ever fucking talk to me again!"

As much as Jade had convinced herself that being with Beck and not Tori was the right thing to do, her already present guilt deep within herself, started to grow.

Beck of course knew nothing of what had happened between Jade and Tori. She merely told him that they hung out and she had to leave.

Beck and Jade went back to his trailer and besides her lingering guilt, which she ignored; it was much like old times. They made love in the afternoon. Jade found herself thinking about Tori, but she told herself it meant nothing. After that they watched the scissoring and got into a huge fight over where to eat for dinner.

It was like the good ole times. But during the fight, Jade suddenly remembered, the good ole times, weren't always so good. But as always after the fight, they made up and had sex. Jade managed to force Tori from her thoughts and enjoyed being with beck. But deep down she knew she could only keep her mind off the Latina for so long.

That night, jade had a nightmare. She was swimming in a vast ocean in the dead of night, above she could see a beautiful tapestry of stars stretching across the sky. But Jade could see nothing else, no land, no ships, no nothing. The water was cold and Jade was only wearing a bathing suit. But she started to swim and swim. She kept on swimming in hopes she would find something. But her muscles gave out long before her hope did. Her muscles cramped up and she found herself unable to swim. She cried out for help but no reply was heard. Eventually she slipped beneath the waves into the cold blackness of the ocean. As she sank deeper she opened her mouth to scream, but her lungs filled with water.

Jade woke gasping for breath. After a moment she realized she was sleeping with Beck in his trailer. She clutched to his sleeping form for comfort, but his snoring form was just that. A sleeping and snoring man.

She left Beck's trailer not feeling rested and headed home before going to school. She arrived at school, coffee in hand and a sour expression on her face. After her nightmare she wasn't able to sleep for an hour and she was tired. As she walked up to her locker, she glanced over at Tori's. It was closed and the lights that adorned the locker itself were off. She hadn't arrived yet.

As she caught a glimpse of the Latina entering her view, she felt a deep stab of pain in her heart which Jade told herself was just her anxiety. Jade carefully studied the Latina as she walked to her locker.

Normally, Tori wears some sort of outfit she thinks is cute. Today, she was dressed in blue jeans and a plain grey t shirt. Also out of the ordinary, her hair was up. Though Tori never once looked at her, Jade could see a rather blank expression on her face. She walked to her locker and pulled out her books.

As Jade watched she spotted Cat walk up to her.

"Hi Tori, you left the brunch so quickly. I didn't to ask you about the party. How was it?" The perky red-haired girl said in rapid fire fashion.

Jade expected a look of pain or something on Tori's face. Instead she blankly looked at cat and spoke in a rather emotionless tone. "It was fine Cat, You'll have to excuse me. I have to get to class. I'll see you later."

Tori then closed her locker and walked off. Cat appeared to be puzzled for a moment but just shrugged and made a beeline for Robbie who had just walked in. There was one last thing Jade noticed. Tori didn't turn on the lights that spell out the words, Make it shine. Tori had never failed to do that since the day she put the lights in.

But before Jade could let herself ponder it anymore, Beck came up and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Babe. You looked like you were thinking about something, what's up." He said with a warm smile.

Jade pushed aside her thoughts, telling herself Tori would be fine. "I was thinking about an exam I have 3rd period. It is finals week you know. "

Beck nodded. "Yeah, I know, there's a lot of stressed out looking people here today. That will last all week."

"Yeah, that's certainly right."

As the day progressed, Jade noticed that Tori utterly ignored her. As if she didn't exist. She did see her talking to Andre and then Robbie a bit in the morning. She seemed to be distant with them. But they also worried about finals, didn't seem to notice.

Jade noticed that and one other thing. The one time Jade caught a glimpse of Tori's eyes, she saw something. Actually she saw nothing, they were totally dead. No trace of emotion in them what so ever.

Despite the lies she had told herself, that rattled Jade a bit. But she just kept telling herself it would be fine and she would be back to normal. Lunch is coming up soon Jade thought, She'll be laughing at one of Robbie's jokes or talking to Andre about some new music album.

Lunchtime came and Jade waited for Tori to arrive. She, Beck, Andre and Robbie were all present. Eventually Cat arrived.

"Tori won't be with us today. She told me she's going to be working on a composition she needs to finish for her music class. She says that and she'll be studying through lunch pretty much every day. She sends her regrets."

They all nodded and Andre said, OK. It was finals week and a lot of people were taking time at lunch to study, so that wasn't usual. Jade just kept eating, hoping that was the real reason.

In the afternoon Tori, much like in the morning, was pretty much a non-entity. Jade noticed how Tori was there, but not really there. It was like her body came to class, but not her personality. But it was finals week, so no one seemed to notice.

Tuesday and Wednesday was pretty much a repeat of Monday with Tori dressed in rather drab clothes and showing little emotion. Jade just kept telling herself that she would snap out of it and all would be well. She ignored the growing feeling of guilt inside of her. Things with Beck were good, but she hoped it would be better. It was too much like how they used to be, where they fought a lot. There was a vague emptiness to it all and Jade just told herself that it would all work out.

Wednesday night, she had another nightmare. Jade found herself sitting at Hollywood Arts at their usual lunch table. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood and chatting.

Jade looked to Tori who flashed a bright smile, which made Jade feel relaxed and warm inside.

Jade then looked down at her plate and took a bite. When she looked back to Tori, Jade noticed something. Some of the color had seemed to fade from her green dress. As Jade continued to watch, all the color seemed to fade until she was totally grey. Tori, who seemed oblivious along with everyone else, just went on eating. A moment later as Jade was going to speak, she simply faded away.

"Where did Tori go?" Jade said quickly.

"Whos Tori?" Robbie asked with a funny look as he took a sip of his soda.

Jade glared back at Robbie. "Tori Vega, who for some stupid reason, thinks you're not a total weirdo."

Robbie looked hurt for a moment then confused. "I'm sorry, I've never heard of her." He then looked to the others. "Anyone here, know of Tori Vega?"

The group collectively said No.

As Jade was going to speak again, she noticed that now Beck was turning grey. As before the color slowly faded and he vanished.

"Now Beck's gone!" Jade said as she stood up.

Andre, Cat and Robbie, looked at each other rather puzzled. "Who's Beck?" Quizzed Andre.

"Uh…hello. He's my Boyfrend. Just how stupid are you three."

Cat looked at Jade. "I'm sorry Jade, you don't have a boyfriend and I've never known anyone named Beck."

Jade started to speak, but this time both Andre & Robbie started to turn grey. A moment later they vanished.

Jade couldn't comprehend what was going on. "Now Robbie and Andre are gone. All of our friends are vanishing! What's wrong with you!" Jade yelled at Cat.

Cat seemed to shrivel up in her seat at Jade's angry outburst. "Jade, I don't know any of those people and I'm your only…." Cat never finished her sentence, as she turned grey and faded away in the middle of it.

Starting to freak out, Jade stood up to see the entire table itself turn grey and vanish.

Desperate, Jade ran over to Trina on the other side of the asphalt café. "Trina, where is every one. Tori, Andre, Beck. Their all gone. All my friends."

Trina quickly scowled. "Jade, everyone at Hollywood Art's knows you don't have any friends."

"But your sister, Tori?" Jade said in growing desperation.

Trina looked at her rather puzzled. "I don't have a sister. I'm an only child. Now get away from me freako!"

At this point the entire table of people Trina was at, just started to laugh and mock her. Soon, everyone at the Asphalt Café was mocking and jeering her.

Terrified, Jade started to run. As she ran, she noticed, now she was turning grey. Soon enough the other's in the asphalt café, stopped mocking her and just seemed to forget she was there. They just went back to their lunches as if nothing had happened.

Jade tried to shout to plead, to beg, but no sound came from her mouth, as she faded away into nothingness…

Jade soon woke up after that, feeling disturbed by the dream. But she splashed some water on her face and rationalized it away.

"Ok, maybe they'll be upset if they find out what I did. But they'll get over it. I just explain that it was for the best. After a while, things will be just fine."

As Jade lay back down to go to sleep, she told herself. "It was just a dream; it probably doesn't mean anything anyway."

**Jade's in denial, but her subconscious it most certainly trying to tell her something. She's only going to be able to supress her guilt for so long. Tori is apparently locked behind her own emotional walls. **


	23. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 23 – Nightmares**

**A super long one today. Fans of the movie Alien, rejoice. You will be made happy in this chapter. **

**No One's pov**

Jade went to school Thursday morning, hoping everything would be back to the way it was. On the surface it seemed to be that way, she had her friends, she was with Beck, Vega was not a friend. But Tori's distance from everyone bothered Jade. Every day it bothered her a bit more. But Jade kept telling herself, that things would return to normal. The strange dream she had the night before, didn't help Jade's sense of unease.

Jade was at her locker getting her books when she happened to see an odd incident. Cat, who seemed in a hyper mood, had come up to Tori.

"Hey Tori, how are you today. I'm so glad finals week is almost done. I was up half the night studying for my history exam. But I was so tired, I drank 3 cans of soda and ate 2 candy bars." The red haired girl said in rapid fire fashion.

Tori, who had just arrived at her locker, gave Cat a rather neutral look. "Cat, you should get sleep." She said rather blandly.

"I like to sleep, my brother only likes to sleep in the daytime, he gets up and walks all around the house at night. Once he made lasagna at 3 in the morning, except he used sour cream instead of cottage cheese. The lasagna didn't taste very good. Nothing her ever makes tastes very good. But he only cooks at night. I tell him to stay out of my room at night. Though he did once when Jade slept over."

Jade who was observing Tori, noticed the Latina was less than interested in Cat's ravings about her insane brother. Jade further noticed that when Cat said Jade, the Latina's expression quickly went from rather bland to kind of mad looking.

She woke up when the flash from the camera went off. She proceeded to punch him right in the nads and he…." Cat didn't get any further, as Tori angrily cut her off.

"Cat, I don't care about your stupid brother. I care about my exams and trying to get a good grade on them. So stop bugging me and leave me the hell alone." Tori's voice was harsh and had a decent amount of venom in it.

Tori grabbed her bag, slammed her locker shut and stormed off, leaving a stunned looking Cat. Jade couldn't help remember that incident. Cat's brother was taking pictures of her while asleep. When she woke up, jade punched him in the nuts, then in the face as he lay in the floor in pain. Though her parents apologized, Jade never slept over at Cat's again. But now, Jade was more concerned by Cat who was standing there looking like she was going to cry.

Jade quickly walked up to Cat and put her arm around her.

"Why did she yell at me Jade?" Cat said with a squeak to her voice.

Jade thought quickly, saying she upset because I dumped her would only make matters worse. Tori needed time to snap back, and Jade was sure she would.

"Cat, she's under a lot of strain. I remember her telling me, she made a goal to ace every one of her exams this year. So she's been studying like crazy and is just really focused on her finals. So just give her some space and she'll be just fine next week, when school is over." Jade knew that Tori had no such goal, but it would allay any of Cat's suspicions of Tori's behavior.

Cat took a deep breath and a half a smile returned to her face. "That makes sense, goals are good to have."

"You going to be ok, then?"

The Red haired girl nodded. "Yes."

Jade playfully patted her on the butt. "Now scoot, you're cramping my style."

Cat looked confused, "You mean it's that time of the…."

Jade cut her off. "NO!" As it happened, it actually was that time of the month. However, Jade wasn't about to admit that in the middle of the hallway at Hollywood Arts.

Cat just shrugged and walked away. The rest of the day went without incident. As normal Tori wasn't at lunch, saying she was working on a project. But otherwise she was as she had been for the last several days; only halfway there. As before the others were too concerned with their own final exams to really notice.

As always jade kept telling herself, it didn't mean nothing and everything will be ok. Still the guilt deep inside her was growing. She had another dream Thursday night, this time she was walking through a forest it was day and the sun was shining. Jade could hear the birds singing, it was very beautiful.

But as she walked she found that with every step she took it got just a tiny bit darker. Soon enough it was pitch black and only the dim moonlight coming filtering down through the trees provided any light. Suddenly the path came to an end. A thick group of bushes blocked her from going any further.

Turning around she saw an imposing figure, though she didn't have much time to study him as he promptly swung an axe at her head. Jade woke just as it was about to hit.

It was a short dream but a disturbing one none the less. Jade just chalked it up to watching a horror movie earlier in the evening. She had gone old school and watched Friday the 13th Part 2 with Beck in his trailer.

Friday, the next day, was the last day of final exams and school for the year. Jade hoped once school was out, Tori could finally relax and be back to her normal self. I'll be with Beck and she'll be away from me, then she'll get over all this nonsense.

As the day started, Jade noticed that Tori was her still blank self. Jade could feel that even pang of guilt as she observed Tori at her locker. The thing is that pang of guilt seemed to be popping up more and more.

A few hours later, Jade was at her locker when Andre came up. "Hey Jade, what you got going on tomorrow evening." Andre said with a warm smile.

Jade thought for a moment. "Beck and I were thinking about going to the movies. Why?"

"Well the girl I'm dating, Kara Thomas, she's throwing an end of the year party. She told me to invite all my friends."

Somehow the thought of yet another party, really didn't have any appeal to her. But she knew Beck would want to come. Jade decided to go, but was already working on excuses to leave early.

"I'll talk to Beck, we'll see if we can make an appearance."

"Good."

Before Andre, left Jade couldn't help but ask. The word Tori suddenly popped into her head. "Did you talk to the others, who's coming?"

"The only one I have yet to talk to is Beck. Cat and Robbie are coming. Tori said she might come but said she may have some family thing going on."

Andre appeared to think for a moment. "She's been a bit off all week. I know's she's been ultra-focused on her finals. It is finals week after all and were all stressed to hell, but it's as if something else is wrong. I'm hoping this party will help her relax….ehh.. It's probably just my imagination."

Jade suddenly felt like someone punched in the stomach as huge ball of guilt seemed to form in her stomach. She shook her head and put on a fake smirk. "Wouldn't be the first time it was all in your head. You're worse than Cat's brother sometimes."

It was a terrible put down, but the best Jade could think of on the spur of the moment. Andre just shook in head in confusion and walked away.

It was after the last bell, Jade hung around at her locker. She was taking her time in collecting all her things, while she waited for Tori to clean out her locker. She hoped that with the end of the semester her spirits would rise or maybe she would show some emotion.

Tori,a minute later walked up to her locker and shoved everything in a large duffle bag, all the while an expression of apathy sat firmly on her face. Her locker emptied for the summer, she slammed it shut and walked out of the school, not even bothering to look back.

Jade walked to the door and watched Tori walk to her car. She hoped the Latina would look back, show some kind of emotion. But she just walked to her car, got in and drove away.

"Hi Jade! What you looking at?" Cat said springing up behind her.

Jade spun around. "Ah….just seeing what the weather outside was like."

Cat nodded. "Hey have you seen Tori. We were going to go to Nozu after school to celebrate. I mentioned it to Tori but she said she would see."

Jade shook her head. "No, I haven't seen her."

At this point Beck came up and Kiss Jade on the cheek. "Hi babe."

It had been fine with Beck since she had gotten back but this time as she was thinking about Tori, Jade found herself not wanting to be kissed by Beck. She just glared at him and he backed off, figuring she was in one of her normal bad moods.

"Come on Jade, let's got to Nozu." He said cautiously.

Jade nodded and said. "Fine, let's go."

The party the next night was a roaring success. It was at a large home of Andre's girlfriend. Jade and Beck arrived late as they had decided to go to the movies anyway. They found, Robbie, Cat and Andre sitting at a table by the pool.

"Hey guys!" Beck said as she sat down.

"How was the movie?" Robbie said.

"It sucked, only 2 people got killed. How can it be a slasher movie with only two deaths? It was all atmosphere and no action." Jade snapped. "I could have directed it better than that."

Besides the fact that she hated the horror flick that they had just seen, Jade was thinking about one other person. The person who was missing from the table, Tori Vega.

She didn't want to ask the question. Fortunately, Beck did, saving her the trouble.

"Hey where's Tori? I figure after being so intent on acing her exams she'd want to let loose."

Andre made a sad looking smile. "She texted me earlier. She got a job at the food court at the Eastside mall and starts tomorrow. She said she didn't' want to show up the first day tired and hung over."

Jade felt that pang of guilt again. It was a perfectly legit excuse but Jade suspected it was just an excuse not to go.

Jade didn't really enjoy the party, she kept finding herself hoping that Tori would show up. Each time she saw a girl with long brown hair she hoped it would be Tori. But it never was. Feeling an sense of unexplained frustration Jade asked Beck to take her home just before midnight.

Later on as Jade drifted off to sleep in Becks arms, she felt anything else but comforted. As sleep progressed, her growing sense of guilt took the form of another dream.

Jade found herself to be on the bridge what appeared to be a space ship. The walls were black and outside a window the vast emptiness of space could be seen. There were several chairs where the crew would sit, but they were all empty. In fact, Jade was the only one there. She knew it was a space ship as looked very familiar, like she'd seen it before. But she could hardly think as a loud siren was wailing and lights were flashing. Jade knew instantly that something was wrong.

Suddenly a female voice calmly came over the loudspeaker. Jade recognized it instantly as Tori's.

"The option to override automatic detonation expires in T- minus 30 seconds."

After that she heard Tori begin a countdown from 30.

"What?" Jade said out loud. Jade had no idea where she was or why the ship was about to self destruct. That was until she spotted a cap sitting on a chair. On the top were written the words.

_USCSS Nostromo_

"Shit, this is god dam Alien and it's fucking end." Jade instantly screeched, as she realized she was in fuckloads of trouble.

As Jade tried to think of what to do next, she heard Tori's voice continue to count down.

10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1"

"The option to override detonation procedure has expired; the ship will automatically destruct in T – Minus 5 minutes."

Jade remembered, at this point Ripley ran to the escape craft and got off the Nostromo before it blew up. The problem was, that she had no idea where to go. So she ran down a hallway and through the door, finding herself in the crews quarters. Jade was filled with horror as she spotted a bloody form lying on the table in the center of the room. The figure's chest appeared to have been burst out from within.

Jade gasped audibly, as she realized the dead figure was Tori. Already freaking out, the accusing look from Tori's dead eyes further shook up Jade.

Now beginning to freak out, Jade kept running down various corridors of the ship as she heard Tori's voice note that time was running out.

Jade kept going, down corridors, down ladders,, trying to find the escape craft, fully aware the Alien was somewhere lurking on the ship. It was a very unsettling feeling.

Another announcement momentarily drowned out the wail of the ships emergency siren.

"You now have T – minus 2 minutes before the ship automatically self-destructs."

After more frantic running Jade finally recognized the corridor form the movie that lead to the escape craft. A large white room with the entry to the escape craft beyond.

Suddenly Tori's Voice came over the loudspeaker again.

"You now have 1 minute to Abandon ship. The ship will automatically self-destruct in T minus one minute."

Jade tore down the corridor to the escape ship and safety but as she entered the large white room she suddenly Alien standing right infront of her blocking the entrance to the escape ship. It was 7 foot tall black creature with an elongated skull and frightening set of teeth. One thing was odd. The creature was carrying her favorite pair of scissors; the ones from The scissoring. Jade was paralyzed as the monstrous terror stood towering over her.

With a swift motion the Alien suddenly shoved the scissors right in her gut. Jade immediately coughed up blood and fell to the floor.

The alien just began to laugh, but in Tori's voice as Jade felt the life ebb from her body. It then turned and entered the escape craft, the door shutting behind it. She could hear it roar to life and depart only seconds later.

Jade reached down and managed pulled the scissors from her stomach. It was hard considering she was in the most pain she'd ever been in. But it hardly mattered as he heard Tori's calm voice counting down.

"5…4…3…2…1 Boom."

Jade woke up screaming this time. Startled, Beck tried to calm the freaked out Goth. Jade, still very disorientated punched Beck in the Jaw and retreated to a corner. It took him several minutes to calm her down.

"Are you going to be alright? I've never seen you have a nightmare like that before. What happened."

Jade stood up and collected her thoughts. "It was an alien from the movie Alien. It…it…stabbed me with my own scissors."

He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Come back to Bed, I'll keep the monsters away."

At that moment all Jade wanted to do was get out of that trailer and get away. Beck's presence was not reassuring at all.

"I'm sorry Beck, I need to get out of here." Jade said, half in tears, as she hurriedly put her shirt on.

"Please stay." He pleaded.

"No…I can't I need to drive to be alone, to clear my head." Jade said as she finished getting dressed.

A moment later Beck was alone, listening to the sound of Jade's car drive away. Jade drove aimlessly for hours through the city, trying to clear her head. She finally arrived home as the sun was rising and crawled into bed, sleeping until 1 in the afternoon.

She awoke to the smell of coffee. Opening her eyes she found Beck sitting on the edge of her bed. "I called earlier and your mom said you were sleeping. I got some of your favorite coffee."

For an instant, Jade hoped it would be someone else. The look of disappointment on her face, Beck chalked that up to Jade being tired.

Jade took the cup and took a long drink. "Thank you."

He slapped on the rear. "I have a surprise for you. Get packed. We're going to spend 3 days in Mexico."

Jade's eyes widened with surprise. "What?"

"I've got some money set aside and decided to celebrate both the end of school and our being back together. I found one of those killer last minute deals for a resort. We leave today."

Jade thought quickly, perhaps getting away from Vega and relaxing may do the trick. She had found that things between her and Beck seemed to be fading in the last few days.

Jade packed quickly and within 2 hours they were on the road. Over the next 3 days they spend their time at one of those all-inclusive resorts. Everything was perfect, Beck was attentive and loving. The food was great. The weather was flawless. The resort was a fun place full of fun people. But still she couldn't keep her mind off of Tori. Each night she had a different nightmare. If there was once constant, other than the fact that she died in each one, was that Tori's presence was increasingly present.

Every day she told herself that it would be fine, that that night meant nothing. But every time she told herself that lie, she believed it less and less.

All in all, as the days went on Jade felt a growing sense of not only guilt but misery and longing for Tori. More and more she felt the feel of regret when she looked at Beck.

It was Thursday evening, when Jade got back. At this point, all she wanted to do was get away from Beck. Spending 3 days in a hotel room was 3 days too much as far as Jade was concerned. Getting back with Beck was now starting to feel like a mistake.

That night in her own bed, she had another nightmare. She was back at the party at Mike Giordano's house again. The party was in full swing as it was that night and Jade felt the need to find Tori. Looking downstairs in the basement Jade didn't find her.

Jade then knew where Tori would be. She crept upstairs to the bedroom and opened the door. There she saw Tori and herself making out on the bed. Before Jade could say anything, she saw her doppleganger on the bed reach into Tori's chest and tear out Tori's heart.

At that point, Jade watched in horror as her evil twin just smirked at Tori's bloodied corpse, then got off the bed. The evil Jade looked at the heard in her hands and promptly dumped in the the garbage can next to the bed. She then wiped her hands on Tori's shirt.

Jade was paralyzed watching her self doing all of this. As the evil Jade started to walk out of the room she paused and looked at her shocked twin.

"God are you ever a fucking coward!" Doppelganger Jade said with contempt, as she left the room slamming the door behind her.

Jade stood there and began to cry. It was then she noticed movement coming from the bed. Looking to the bed she saw Tori sit up, but she was dead. Her skin was grey, her eyes lifeless. Only a low moan escaped the now zombie Tori's blackened lips. She looked as if she'd been dead for a month.

"Please Tori, I'm sorry." Jade pleaded as she moved to the door. The zombie Tori, got off the bed and slowly advanced on Jade. Jade grabbed the doorknob, but quickly discovered she was now locked in. She pounded at the door and screamed for help, but only response was the mocking laughter or her evil doppelganger coming from the other side of the door.

Jade turned to see that the dead form of Tori was now almost on top of her. She didn't even have to guess as to what she was going to do.

"It's all my fault." Jade said sadly, as she closed her eyes and waited for Tori's fatal embrace.

Jade woke up, sobbing as Tori took the first bite of her arm.

Sitting alone in her room, Jade knew she couldn't lie to herself any longer. It was a deeply painful realization, that her own fears had caused so much pain. Both to her and Tori.

"Tori is a bright, beautiful, wonderful person. A person that I want to be with, but I was too scared to admit it. I hurt her and….." Jade couldn't finish her sentence, as she collapsed on her bed in long painful sobs.

That morning, Jade knew she had to face the truth and try to set things right. She had sobbed for more than an hour after waking from the dream and was unable to sleep afterwards. Jade was shattered and the guilt she had suppressed, was now back with a vengeance.

She had two things to do. She knocked on Becks trailer a little after nine.

Beck quickly opened the door and smiled. "Hey babe, I didn't think you'd be here so early."

It was then he noticed the drawn out expression on Jade's face. "What's wrong?" Not only that, she looked as if she had been crying.

"We need to talk." Jade said, sounding very broken.

"Come on in." Beck said as she stood aside.

Jade slowly walked in the trailer and appeared to collect her thoughts.

"This was a mistake." Jade said in a barely audible tone.

A look of confusion registered on Becks face. "What was a mistake?"

Jade began to speak, but she found herself not even able to look Beck in the eye. "US getting back together. I just did it because I was afraid of how I felt about her. How she made me feel. How others would think that I liked her. I was afraid to admit my sexuality."

Beck's mouth opened slightly, as what she said began to sink in. "Who made you feel this way?"

There was a long silent pause, as Jade tried to get the confidence to speak. Finally tears came to Jade's eyes. "Tori."

Beck stepped back as the look of confusion on his face turned to shock. He had no idea what to say. But he thought back how Tori had seemed very unemotional all week. He also realized that he hadn't seen Tori talk to or mention Jade once. She had told him she was going to focus on final exams, but he now realized that it was a lie.

"What did you do to her Jade?" Beck said, as he took a step back forward.

Long streams of tears now ran down Jade's face. I was with her, at Mike Giordano's party before you arrived. She said she like me, I think she always like me. I was so happy to hear her say it because deep down I felt the same way about her. We were alone in one of the bedrooms."

"Sex?" Beck said with a sad look.

Jade nodded. "She had to leave early and I was alone. I suffered a panic attack thinking about it all and then I saw you arriving…."

Beck nodded as he began to understand. "I was a safe harbor to hide from your real feelings. Wasn't it?"

Jade stepped forward and put out her hands. "I'm sorry Beck, I'm really sorry."

Beck stepped back, as he put his hands on his head. "You did it to her; you dumped the blood on her didn't you. Except you did it to Tori but not Trina."

Jade who was now sobbing, thought back to the prank she was going to pull on Trina. "I didn't do that Beck…."

I pointed angrily in her face. "Yes you did. Think about it Jade. The movie Carrie, there she is, Carrie white, she's had a tough life and for once everything is going her way. She's with a handsome guy who really likes her, she feels beautiful and she gets elected prom queen. For an instant she feels like she's special and not a freak. That is until the mean girl drops the blood on her and in an instant it's all ripped away…..and that's exactly what you did to her. That's why she looked so odd in the elevator the day of the brunch. You hadn't even bothered to tell her…." Beck's voice at this point rose to a shout. "DIDN'T YOU?"

Jade let out a long sob. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt her, honestly. I was going to tell her."

Beck shot her a cynical look. "How considerate, you where going to tell her that she's been dumped. I can't fucking believe you."

There was another pause, as the only sound in the trailer was that of Jade's crying.

Beck took a deep breath. "Well Jade, if it hasn't been said, we're done. For good this time. You used me to hurt Tori. You just used me, period."

"What do I do?" Jade sobbed.

Beck huffed. "Not my problem anymore. Last month my uncle offered me a summer job at the fishing lodge of his best friend up in Canada. I could be a fishing guide, as I know the area pretty well. He said I could make good money. But I turned it down, figuring I wanted stay close to my friends. He told me it was still open if I wanted it. So I'm going to call him today and take the job. I'll be back just before school starts up again."

Beck gave the crying Jade a cold hard look. "You're on your own Jade. Now get the fuck out of my trailer."

Jade said nothing and continued to cry as she left the trailer. Still crying she drove straight to the mall. She hoped that Tori would talk to her, she needed to be with Tori again. Her heart ached, knowing how badly she messed things up with Tori.

Jade found Tori at the food court, working at the register of a Sal's Pizza. For a half an hour she watched the Latina man the register. She was friendly to the customers but once they were gone, she reverted back to her cold emotionless state. Seeing Tori like that made Jade feel even worse.

After a while, she saw a different employee from Sal's pizza pick up trays in the food court. Jade walked up the teenager and poked him on the shoulder.

"Hey you work with Tori Vega?" She asked the young man.

He looked back to Tori and then to Jade. "Yes, what of it?"

"What is she like, does she talk much?" Jade asked with a heavy heart.

He chuckled. "She does her job well, but she rarely talks to anyone and doesn't show much emotion. She's not very friendly . No one really likes her, other than the boss."

Jade nodded and walked away.

Jade sat down at a table on the far end of the food court and kept watching Tori. Tori seemed not to notice. The Tori she knew was gone and Jade knew she was the cause. She knew she had caused Tori so much pain she retreated deep inside herself. Just the thought of that tore jade up inside. The guilt and anguish she was now feeling was overwhelming everything else.

Just after lunch, at 1:00 Tori left her post at the register and was replaced by someone else. Jade guessed that Tori was either taking a break or was done for the day. Jade got up and ran around, to the back hallway where the rear entrances to the various food places were.

As she turned the corner, she found Tori standing right in front of her. Her purse was slung around her shoulder. Jade guessed she was leaving for the day. A look of surprised registered on Toris' face for an instant, before her face seemed to turn to stone. She simply glared at Jade, saying nothing.

Jade took a deep breath and began to say the apology she had been practicing for the last hour.

"Tori, I fucked up and I…" That's all Jade was able to say, before Tori seemed to explode and began to scream at her.

"I TOLD YOU TO NEVER TALK TO ME AGAIN JADE. I THOUGHT EVEN YOU COULD GET THAT SIMPLE MESSAGE OR ARE YOU TOO FUCKING STUPID TO GET IT. I HATE YOU JADE, ITS JUST THAT SIMPLE. YOURE A COLD HEARTLESS BITCH AND I WAS STUPID TO THINK THERE WAS ANYTHING WORTHWHILE ABOUT YOU ANYWAY. I NEVER SHOULD HAVE INTEREFERED WHEN MORGAN HAD YOU TIED UP. YOU DESERVE TO ROT IN A CELL, NOT HER. AFTER ALL YOU WERE THE ONE THAT FUCKED HER BOYFRIEND. ITS ALL YOUR GOD DAM FAULT. I HATE YOU…I HATE YOU…I HATE YOU.."

Jade wasn't prepared for the amount of venom and hatred that were packed into Tori's scream. It blew through her already destroyed defenses and crushed what was left of her, self-image. Tori's whole body seemed tense up and for an instant, Jade fully expected Tori to smash her in the face.

But as Jade sank to her knees, feeling completely shattered, she couldn't help notice Tori coldly walk away.

**Tori, badly stung by Jade's rejection has grown cold, angry and bitter. Showing little emotion other than rage or anger. Jade has finally accepted her feelings for Tori and tried to apologize but was verbally destroyed by an enraged Tori. **

**I happened to be looking at twitter and for laughs I searched "Jori fan fiction." I just happened to have found a nice person by the name of Parveenjit Kaur or SmilerLizbian who was nice enough to recommend in their tweets, two of my stories recently. Somewhere over the rainbow and The wolf in me. My thanks to you. I happened to read your tweet about how The Alien with a scissors would be creepy, so in thanks of you kindly recommending my stories, I made it happen in this chapter. Thanks for the idea.**


	24. No Reply

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 24 – No reply**

**No One's Pov**

It took a while for Beck to calm down after he kicked Jade out of the trailer. He can't remember ever being so mad. Jade used him not only to hide her feelings, but at the same time used him to really hurt Tori. At this point, he just wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

As he told Jade, he called his uncle's friend and asked if the Job offer was still available. Beck was told it was still available and he could start as soon as he could get there. The man, a Mr. Wilson, even offered to reimburse Becks airfare. He had known, that as a boy Beck had grown up in the area and knew it very very well. He needed experienced guides for his guests that wanted to fish, hike or generally enjoy the scenic rural area his resort was situated in.

Beck told his parents and hurriedly packed, making plans to take the redeye late that evening to Toronto. There, he would catch a bus to his destination. But before he left, he wanted to at least try to apologize to Tori for the part he had taken in this.

Since that day he had only spoken her twice and she seemed rather cold each time. At first he simply chalked it up to the fact that Tori was focused on finals, but he knew that wasn't the case.

It was just after dinner and Beck had his cab stop on his way to the airport at Tori's house.

"Just wait here a few minutes, I'll be back." He told the cab driver.

"The meter is still running." The gruff cab driver said.

"Yeah I know", he said as he got out.

With a lump in his throa,t he walked up to the Vega house and rang the bell. About a minute later, the door swung open and Beck could see Tori was the one who opened it. The Latina just stood in the doorway, with a frown on her face.

"If you're looking for Jade, She ain't here." Tori said bitterly.

Beck nervously ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not looking for Jade. I took a job in Canada for the summer and wanted to stop by before I left. I broke up with Jade today, she told me what she did and I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry."

Tori's face darkened. "Jade put you up to this didn't she? She begged you to smooth things over so I would forgive her."

"No…No…this has nothing to do with Jade."

"I don't believe you. Fuck Jade and fuck you. Good night." Tori snapped, before she slammed the door in Becks' face.

Beck couldn't help but sigh. "I am sorry Tori." He said softly, as he turned to leave.

In the cab going to the airport, Beck started to call Andre. He was thinking of filling in his friend on what had happened, but then he paused. I'm not sure if this is my place, he thought. He further thought that it might make things worse for Tori.

So instead he send an email to Andre, Robbie and Cat, using his pearphone.

_Guys,_

_Sorry I couldn't say a proper goodbye and give you some notice. But I've taken a Job, working at the fishing resort of a good friend of my uncles in Canada. I'll be there all summer and will return a day or so before the start of school. Have a great summer and I'm sorry that I won't be around. See you in 3 months._

_Beck._

Having sent the email, he sat back in the seat and watched the city lights pass by his window as he grew closer and closer to the airport.

Jade on the other hand, after being verbally torn apart by Tori, went home and went straight to bed. She was too depressed to do anything other than lay in bed and cry.

The next day, Jade got up the courage to try to send Tori a text.

"_Please Tori, I'm sorry. I want to be with you. I made a mistake, please forgive me."_

There was no reply. The more Jade thought about Tori the worse she felt. Tori was everything she wanted and now the woman hated her. She was depressed, lonely and guilt ridden. There were a couple of calls from her Cat and and a text from Andre. They asked about what is she going to do now that Beck is gone.

Jade simply sent texts back. "Beck and I aren't together anymore. That's all I want to say."

Jade ignored all the other ones.

For the next several days, jade sent one apology text each day. It was never responded to. Feeling the need to see Tori, Jade would get up early each day and park near the employee parking of the mall and watch Tori arrive and walk into work. As always she looked cold and distant. It never failed to hurt Jade to know, she was the cause of it.

Each day it just became worse for Jade. Other than going to the mall once a day, she rarely left her room. She would just lie in bed, cry, watch horror movies but little else.

After a week, Jade decided to send a bouquet of roses with an apology letter. She knew that Tori loved roses.

The next day Jade, Jade looked out the window and spotted something on her lawn. Walking out she felt a pain in her stomach as she noticed it was the roses and apology letter. They were in a neat pile on her lawn and were shredded into tiny pieces. In the center, stuck into the lawn was the pair of scissors that she had given Tori. The once gleaming silver scissors looked badly tarnished, as if it had been done deliberately.

The sight of her gift so badly despoiled, caused Jade to breakdown right on her lawn.

The next day she decided to eat at the food court itself. Though she didn't pizza, she got a salad instead from another restaurant. She was across the food court, near the bathrooms, where she had a decent vantage point of Tori at her register. About halfway through her lunch Jade notice Tori go in back of the restaurant.

It was too early for Tori to be done, Jade thought. A moment later, she spotted Tori walking across the food court headed towards the bathrooms. Jade's heart started to beat faster as the Latina approached.

Finally Tori spotted Jade as she walked. Jade meekly waived her hand ad tried to flash a look of humility. Tori just huffed and walked straight to Jade's table. Before Jade could say anything, Tori took Jade's lunch and threw it on the floor.

"Are you stupid?" Tori barked. "I told you I didn't want you to talk to me ever again. You lost the right to even look at me you stupid Bitch. Don't make me get a restraining order."

Tori then stomped off, leaving Jade even more broken than before.

Jade was so desperate to get through. She so wanted to make it up to Tori and make things right. This wasn't the Tori she knew she wanted to be with. Jade had to bring the old Tori back. She briefly thought of having Cat or Andre act as an intermediary, but decided not to involve them. There was only one person who may be in a position to help, one person that may already know the score.

Jade knew she would have to swallow her pride, but she wanted Tori back.

Later that evening.

Yawning, Trina wiped her face with the towel before heading back to her bedroom. She'd already changed into her pajamas and had every intention of sleeping till noon if she was lucky, today had been a hard day and Tori wasn't making it easier.

She sighed as she stepped into her bedroom., Tori her current bane of her existence, she knows why she was acting like such a gank and while she had gotten burned that still not excused her action, for God's sake she called Cat a baby for asking about Santa Claus and told her Santa was not real and that she had to grow up, that made the innocent redhead cry. Tori had been seeming avoiding her remaining friends and Cat decided to come over, 3 days ago. It didn't take long for Tori to reduce her to tears. Cat left right after that.

Never has Trina seen her sister deliver such a blow to anyone.

"Damn you Jade" Trina thought angrily.

Her eyes quickly narrowed, as she noticed her opened window. She clearly remembered shutting it before taking her shower. Instinctively, she slid into a fighting stance, cautiously surveying her room and watching the shadows in the corner closely.

Before her eyes could adjust to the darkness, a morose voice spoke out.

"Trina,"

Said girl's eyes widened.

"Jade" She growled "Get out here so I can kick your ass"

"Can we save the fight for another day? I'm not in the mood…" Jade muttered with a tired sigh. She reached out and flicked the switch on the bedside lamp, illuminating the entire room with a warm light.. "I just want to talk."

"You break into my room just to talk, Wicked witch West?" Trina opened her eyes incredulously.

"Serious, Trina," Jade held up her hands as she sat on Trina's bed. "I just want to talk."

"And why should I even listen to you?"

"Look… I…" Jade started, before falling silent. "Okay, you don't have to, but… But it's about Tori."

"GET OUT!" The older Vega bellowed "YOU ALREADY HURT HER ENOUGH!"

"I didn't plan too!"

"Like hell you didn´t"

"I'm being honest here"

"Like you know what being honest is" Trina said as her blood began to boil.

The goth put a hand over her eyes "I dont want to fight with you Trina, I only want to talk to you because I... Look I need you to believe me I never wanted to hurt Tori"

"Am I supposed to believe that?!" Trina sneered "You've done nothing, but make my sister's life hell since the day you met, she always wanted to believe the good in people even you but then you had to go and stab her in the back!"

"I thought I was doing the right thing by getting back with Beck" She admitted "I was scared Trina, this was a big deal, you just don't accept overnight that fact that you can be a lesbian!"

"Ok I'll give you that but that still doesn't excuse what you did to my sister, thanks to you she has become cold and distant, she even told me that no one likes me!"

Jade's eyes widened at the revelation.

"You broke her, you psychotic wench" Trina snarled "You broke her and now you have the nerve to come to my house!"

"Look, I didn't mean to-…" Jade said tiredly, before falling silent. She looked directly at the older teen and asked in a tired tone, "How's she doing?"

"Like you care," Trina growled as she walked closer towards the surprisingly quiet woman. Her eyes instantly narrowed. "I'm in no mood to talk to you. It's late, and don't you have to be with your loving boyfriend?" Trina asked venomously.

Trina tilted her head to the side and made a rather evil smile. "Oh yeah, didn't he dump you and run off to Canada."

"I went there to end it. I don't want to be with him. I want to be with Tori."

Trina merely rolled her eyes.

Looking up at her, Jade pulled her feet back and sat cross-legged on Trina's bed. "Tell me, how's Tori doing?"

"I don't see why you should care," Trina said, sounding really annoyed. "I'm sure the last thin-…"

"I need your help" Jade blurted out before she lost her nerve and murdered quite possibly the only person that could get the old Tori back.

"EXCUSE ME?!"

"I need your help" She repeated.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Trina yelled "You expect me to help you out with whatever you want after you brutally broke my sister's heart?!"

With a defeated sigh, Jade replied sadly, "I know you and I never have gotten along Trina but I'm running out of options and I really do need help reaching Tori because I can't do this alone, I tried, I really tried but she either ignores me or right down treats me like trash."

"That's because you are trash".

Jade visibly winced at those words. "Trina…"

"Let me make this very clear for you. Do you actually know what you did to Tori?" The older brunette asked dangerously as she stood over Jade with her arms across her chest. "You made her believe that people can be cruel, that people can't change and that there is no such thing as love, she now thinks that love is made up, she even thinks she must have gotten high thinking she could even love you."

Jade was speechless.

"What? nothing to say?"

"Ah…shit…" She hung her head low as she buried her face in her hands. "I really screwed up, didn't I?"

"Yeah you did…" Trina replied bluntly.

"She must really hate me now…" Jade shook her head.

"Yup, she does," Trina nodded as she got up from her seat. "Now that we got that settled, would you please get the hell out of my room?"

"No"

"Do I have to remind you that my dad's a cop and that he has guns?"

"Trina, please I don't want Tori to be this way I want her to be the cheery girl I felled for.

"You toyed wth her heart"

"By accident!"

"Keep telling yourself that, maybe someday you'll believe it"

Jade closed her eyes for a moment as she put her head down to her chest. A mournful sigh escaped her lips, as she then slowly moved to the window and crawled out of it. Trina did notice something as Jade crawled out her window. The goth's right sleeve had come up a little ways and she noticed what appeared to be a cut on Jade's arm.

Trina could hear few seconds later, the sounds of Jade quietly crying as the Goth moved off.

For at least a minute, Trina just stood there looking at the window thinking. For a second, Trina thought Jade had been faking it all, but quickly changed her mind. No one is that good of an actress, Trina thought. She also thought about the cut and wondered if Jade was cutting herself or was she just imagining things.

"Ok, so she's sorry, why should I care or even help." Trina said as she left her room to get a snack before bed.

As she walked down the hallway she encountered Tori as she was coming up from downstairs. For a second Tori just looked at her with only scant interest, then she silently walked past her and went into her room. Tori shut her door right after that.

Trina paused, for a moment and stared at Tori's closed bedroom door. Tori's been spending lots of time in there, alone. As Trina thought, she suddenly realized that not once has she heard Tori singing or dancing to some pop song in her room. Tori would spend hours sitting at the piano writing music and playing songs. She used to do that all the time, but now days silence reigns. Tori hasn't gone near the piano in weeks.

Other than the ever increasing arguments between her parents, it's been very silent in the house. Her parents were too busy fighting constantly to notice anything was wrong.

Of all the things, it was the eyes that bothered Trina most. They were lifeless and dead. She couldn't see her younger sister at all in them, anymore. It was a stranger's eye's; a cold, selfish, unkind stranger.

One Trina didn't like at all.

Trina would spend a good amount of time in bed that evening thinking about it all. Spending time debating which was a worst sight, the completely broken Jade West or the stranger that used to be her bright outgoing younger sister. Ultimately she couldn't decide.

But after that, Trina pondered only one thing, "What should I do about it?"

**At this point, I see Tori as having been so hurt she's emotionally shut down and can't break through her own defensive walls. The only exceptions are, occasional bursts of pent up anger. **

**Jade is sad, lonely and guilt ridden. She wants to make things up to Tori. But she can't punch through Tori's walls. She's gotten so desperate she even went to Trina for help. But the elder Latina, really isn't in any mood to help Jade. But at the same time, she doesn't like what her sister has become. **

**I'd like to give Invader Johnny special credit for writing part of this chapter. **


	25. Rock Bottom

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me. **

**The Bet **

**Chapter 25 – Rock Bottom.**

**No One's Pov**

In all of this, Jade's guilt driven nightmares didn't stop. After being rejected by Trina, Jade went home and collapsed into bed. Later while asleep, another nightmare began to form. She found herself in medieval clothes, walking on a dirt road through a forest. As the road exited the forest she could see what appeared to a kingdom with a tall castle in the distance.

But as Jade walked further down the road, she quickly noticed something was amiss. The trees were dying, the crops stood withered in the fields and what animals she saw looked sickly and weak. It was as if the land and everything on it was dying.

Jade kept going and came to the small village that surrounded the castle. The buildings were old and run down. The few people she saw, quickly went into their homes and shut the doors as she approached.

Night was falling as Jade reached the castle, which appeared bright shiny and new. The drawbridge was open and Jade calmly walked inside. After wandering through the empty castle she found what appeared to be the throne room.

The room was empty except for a large fireplace which was not lit and a few tables and chairs. A faded tapestry of musicians hung on one wall. Though at one end of the room, sat an opulent throne.

As Jade expected, she found Tori sitting on the throne. She was wearing fine silken clothes but they were all black. Jade was quick to notice that this Tori had cruel eyes and an even crueler smile.

"Hello Jade. Enter." Tori said from the throne.

Jade walked in and stood before the throne, saying nothing.

"I expect you're wondering why everything is dying. Isn't it wonderful?"

Jade stood stone faced and glared at Tori.

"I know what you're looking for." Tori said as she hopped off the throne and walked towards the tapestry.

"What am I looking for then? Since you're so ahead of me." Jade snapped back.

Tori pulled back the tapestry to reveal a small alcove. In it stood another version of Tori. Her features were soft and a look of pain was etched in her face. But this Tori was frozen solid; a thin sheet of ice coating her skin.

"Behold the old me, soft, tender, caring, not to mention horribly stupid and naïve."

"Bitch" Jade quickly snarled.

Tori laughed. "You should talk witch, you're the one that sent the curse of ice to begin with. Me, I just keep her like this."

Jade walked and touched Tori's right cheek. All she could feel is cold. "Tori." She said softly.

Tori pointed at her frozen self. "The villagers wish I would free her, you wish I would free her. So the land would grow and live again."

"Please!" Said Jade in a heartbroken voice.

Tori's eyes narrowed. "She represents hope you know. Just the fact that she's standing here means that she could unfreeze. But that wouldn't be very good for me now wouldn't it."

"Please Tori" Jade pleaded.

Tori bent over to pick something up that was lying on the floor behind frozen Tori. "There you go with that hope again. There is no hope, that's the first thing you need to remember Jade."

It was at this point, Jade noticed that the object that Tori had picked up was a huge mace. With a cruel laugh and to Jade's horror, Tori swung the mace at her frozen counterpart. As the mace slammed into the frozen Tori, she suddenly exploded into a thousand pieces.

All Jade could do, was scream in anguish as she picked up a single piece of what was one Tori. It was the cheek she had touched earlier. "Nooooo….."

Once again Jade woke up alone, heartbroken and guilt-ridden. She could only reflect on how far she had fallen from the devil may care, Goth girl she once was.

Jade continued her normal routine for the next several days. Seeing Tori once in the morning as she went into to work then spending the rest of the day in her room. She had fallen into a deep depression that she couldn't or didn't want to get out of. Her parents didn't notice; her dad was on a business trip and her mom was busy with a project at her work.

It was on Friday of that week at about 6 in the evening when Jade's phone chimed. Normally she wouldn't bother to look at it but, Jade did anyway. Her eyes opened in shock when she saw it was Tori.

She quickly read the text.

"_You want to apologize and I haven't given you the chance. If you want to talk and I think we should please be at Karaoke Dokie at 8:00 PM this evening."_

Jade's heart instantly soared and she texted back immediately.

"_I'll be there. Thank you."_

Jade ran into the shower and immediately proceeded to get ready to go. She picked an outfit which she thought Tori might like and went to the club, getting there 10 minutes early. She ordered two sodas, and waited with a growing anticipation.

8 O'clock rolled by, then 8:10, than 8:20 than 8:30. Jade wondered what was keeping Tori. She was tempted to text Tori and ask but didn't want to rock the boat. She figured Tori got stuck at home doing chores or something.

So Jade kept waiting at her table. But as it got closer to 9 her spirits fell more and more. But desperate to make things up to Tori, she waited. At about 9:17 she spotted what appeared to be a familiar Latina figure in a crowd of people near the doorway. Jade stood up and began to smile but stopped when she saw it was Trina with a few friends.

Trina did see her and gave her a strange look. Trina noticed that for a moment Jade seemed happy but once she recognized her whole demeanor quickly changed to one of despair. Part of her wanted to just ignore the annoying Goth, but her conscious quickly nagged her. After the other night she knew that Jade was very busted up inside. She told her friends she would get back to them and headed toward's Jade's table.

"Jade? What are you doing here?

With a defeated sigh, Jade said. "Tori texted me about 6. She said she wanted me to have a chance to apologize and talk. She said be here at 8."

A very puzzled look grew on Trina's face but as she opened her mouth Jade's phone chimed with an email. She picked it up, hoping it was Tori. It was.

_"Jade,_

_Hope is for fools. And while you wait at Karaoke Dokie like one. I'm fucking another girl, a girl better than you. Does anyone even care about you anymore? I wonder if your parents do, or were you just an accident. I'll bet you were._

_Tori."_

Trina watched at Jade read the text. As she did all the color seemed to drain from her face.

"Jade, I'm not sure what that says, but Tori stood you up on purpose. We ate dinner about 6:30. One of the few things my sister said is that she was having the start of a migraine and would be in her room all night."

Jade just handed the phone to Trina as the first tears ran down her face. With a feeling of horror and revulsuion, Trina read the email. It was horribly cruel. More and more Trina didn't know who Tori was. Now she was really worried and knew she couldn't stand by any longer. Something had to be done.

"I don't know if she knew, my dad never wanted to have kids. I was an accident." A now sobbing Jade said as she ran towards the exit.

Trina had never liked Jade, she thought she was mean and rude. But seeing the broken woman flee after her sister's cruel taunt changed something in her. Trina ran to her friends and said she had to take care of something, then chased Jade out of Karoke Dokie.

She spotted Jade running across the street towards a park and followed. Jade was a bit faster and had a head start so Jade got a good lead. All of a sudden she stopped by a small lake and pulled something out of her purse.

As Trina ran up, she could see moonlight reflecting off the blades of the gleaming scissors in her hand.

"That stupid wench has flipped." Trina cursed as she closed the final few yards. Jade had just put the scissors to her throat when Trina tackled her. They both fell to the ground and Trina quickly pinned Jade. The first thing she did after that was to pull the scissors out of Jade's hand and toss them in the lake.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell are you doing Jade. You think that ending your life, will solve anything. Just how fucking stupid are you? That's never the answer and you should know that." Trina yelled as she got off of Jade.

"I messed up Trina. I hurt her and I never meant to. She's….." That's all Jade was able to say before she completely melted down. Jade's whole body started to shake and seemed to have trouble breathing.

"I…I…I…having an Anxiety…" Jade blurted out as she collapsed into Trina's arms.

Trina quickly realized she needed to get Jade some help and was having some kind of anxiety attack. She would worry about her sister later. Right now she had to start undoing some of the damage her gank sister had caused.

She carried Jade to her car and took her to the hospital. It must have been a slow night in the ER as Jade was seen very quickly. The doctor said she was suffering a severe Anxiety attack. He admitted her for the night and gave her sedative to help her sleep for a few hours.

Trina waited by Jades bed but did let, Cat, Andre and Robbie know. Cat and Andre showed up about a half an hour later. Trina said she saw Jade at Karaoke Dokie and saw her have some kind of attack or seizure in the parking lot. She then said Jade was diagnosed with a anxiety attack.

"She has those on occasions. She doesn't like people knowing about it. It doesn't happen very often but sometimes Jade just freaks out. " Cat sad as she stroked the sleeping Jade's hair as they all stood in Jade's room.

"I've barely heard from her in the last few weeks. Kind of unlike Tori. What Gives?" Andre asked.

Trina wasn't sure if she should tell, part of her really wanted to. "I'm not sure what's wrong with vampira here, but my sister is just working a lot. When she comes home she's usually very tired and just stays in her room. She'll call you in a few weeks and things will be back to normal."

Andre gave her a look indicating that he didn't quite believe the story but otherwise just nodded.

"Where is Tori, Anyway? I figured she'd be here." Cat asked.

Trina thought quickly. "She said she had a migraine at dinner and went to bed. Hers get pretty bad sometimes and I didn't want to disturb her. I'll let her know in the morning what happened."

"Do you want us to stay?" Andre asked.

Trina wanted to speak to Jade alone. "No, As much as I hate spending time with this dark cloud, I'll make sure she's ok. You guys can go home. I brought her here."

"You sure?"

"I'll regret this, but Yes, go home."

They then said their goodbyes to the sleeping Jade and left. Trina just sat reading a 3 year old issue of Elle that she found in the waiting room down the hall. But her mind was on Tori. She knew that Jade seriously burned Tori. So much so, that Tori had a little breakdown and became a cold heartless bitch. But then Jade breaks up with Beck and falls apart.

"What in the fuck is going on?" Trina said to herself.

An hour and a half later, Trina spotted Jade's eyes flip open. She jumped off her chair and walked to Jade's bed.

Trina got right in Jade's face and began to speak in rather harsh tones. "You are and always have been a royal pain in the ass, do you know that Jade? You're like this dark cloud that just hangs over everything. But I thought you were smart. Instead I find you, about to cut your own throat with a pair of scissors. I'm not sure who's more nuts you or my sister. You're both driving me up the wall. So for starters don't ever try that suicide shit again. That was the stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen you do. AND I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT EVER AGAIN! GOT IT?"

Jade nodded.

Trina stepped back a bit. "Ok I believe you you're sorry. For what its' worth, what my sister did tonight was across the line for me. I'm sorry she did that to you. Ok, now you are going to tell me what happened and don't leave out any details. I want to know exactly what the fuck is going on. From where it started to your little anxiety attack tonight."

Jade nodded again and spend half an hour explaining in every detail what happened. Trina sat down, paying close attention and with only an occasional question listened to Jade's story. When Jade finished, Trina remained silent for a moment as she closed her eyes to think.

Then she sprang out of her chair and threw up her arms. "God you're both total fucking idiots. Oh and by the way, she was messing with you about being with another woman. When I left, she was in her room and if she was going out I would have heard the shower and I didn't."

"I'm sorry." Jade said in return.

"I know you are Jade. It's not 100% your fault."

Jade looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"My parents marriage is breaking up. They've been fighting more and more. There's tension galore in our household. Not to mention Tori's bedroom is right next to my parents and she hears most of their arguments. It's put a lot of stress on her."

Jade's jaw dropped. "I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't know. Tori is or at least used to be a person who didn't want to bother others with her problems. But that said. I told Cat, Andre and Robbie I found you in the parking lot having an anxiety attack and took you here. That's all I said. I further said my sister had a migraine and couldn't come. Are you going to tell them anything?"

Jade shook her head. "No"

Trina thought again and made a decision. "You two boneheads are just going to destroy each other unless something changes and I'm going to half to pull your buts out of the fire. So I'll help you."

Jade closed her eyes as a look of relief crossed her face. "Thank you."

"But there will be a price." Trina said.

Jade could only imagine what Trina would want for her help. "What?"

"Remember when I said you were going to paint my toenails a few weeks ago. When this whole bet nonsense started?" Trina said with a devious smile.

Jade had a sinking feeling. "Yes."

"You'll be doing that, when I come by tomorrow night and help you win Tori's heart back. You want Tori's heart back and I want my sister back. It's a small price to pay. Are you Game?"

"Yes" Jade said instantly. That was how desperate she was to win Tori's heart back. She would do anything, if it meant painting the horrible Trina's toenails than she would do it.

**Well, Jade has pretty much hit bottom and Tori has just turned plain mean. But on the plus side, Trina has had enough and has agreed to help Jade. But with a small price.**

**Here is a question. Trina kind of wants to tell Andre, Robbie and Cat what's going on. Do you think she should?**


	26. 3 tasks

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, it's characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 26 – 3 tasks.**

**No One's POV**

Trina took a step towards the door. "The doctor would like you to stay here tonight. It's nearly 12:30 anyway, so you might as well stay."

Jade nodded. "OK."

"Do you want me to say anything to your folks?"

"No, I'll handle it."

Trina made it to the doorway and stopped. "Ok then. You get some sleep, try not to have any of those freaky nightmares and I'll be by in the morning to take you back to your car."

"Thank you Trina." Jade said softly.

"Don't thank me yet. Just don't do anything stupid. Now get some sleep."

"Ok."

With that Trina was gone. It was strange the seemingly talentless and even more annoying Trina was going to be her savior. But regardless, Jade felt like she had some hope. She turned out the light and went back to sleep, hoping the nightmares would stay away.

Trina let her anger flow freely after she left the hospital and drove home. She couldn't believe the cruelty of her own sister. She had half a mind to march right into her sister's room and punch that dumbass in the head. On top of that, do it right in Tori's sleep.

But Trina instead poked her head into the room and could see her sleeping sister. She looked peaceful in the dim moonlight that filtered in from the window.

"What give's Tori?" Trina said quietly before she closed the door.

The next morning Trina got ready and headed out to pick up Jade. She in in fact left the house just as Tori was getting up, to get ready for work. Trina encountered her sister in the hallway and gave her a cold stare.

"What's your problem?" Snapped Tori.

It took all of Trina's willpower not to punch her sister in the face right then and there. Instead Trina simply marched past her sister without saying a word.

"First you turn into a gank and now you've gotten me caring about Jade. I'm so making you pay for this Tori." Trina ranted, as she walked to her car.

As she promised Trina picked up jade from the hospital and drove her to her car at Karaoke Dokie. Jade said almost nothing during the entire car ride. The only thing she did say was that she slept well. But Trina knew that Jade just needed time to think and avoided asking too many questions.

As they parked next to Jades car, Trina pointed at Jade. "Do not, I repeat Do not go to the mall today. If my sister texts you anything, don't do anything. Just call me first. So go home, take a long hot bath and relax. Try watching something other than that freaky scissoring movie. It's rotting your brain."

"Yes Mother." Jade said, with a hint of sarcasm

Trina laughed. "For a second I saw the normally ganky Jade that I know and dislike. Now get out of my car before someone sees us. I have a reputation to uphold. I'll be by at 7 pm tonight."

Jade got out of the car and watched Trina drive away. Only one thought was in Jade's head. "How could someone be so helpful and so ganky at the same time."

Jade did follow Trina's orders and did as she was told. Though instead of watching the Scissoring she opted for a couple of the classics and watched 1983's "Sleepaway Camp" or as Jade put it, the one with the seriously fucked up but cool ending. The other was 1976's "Massacre at Central high" or as she calls it, the movie that "Heathers" is a shameless rip off of.

Sure enough at 7 Pm sharp, the doorbell rang. As Jade opened the door she could see Trina holding a small bag and wearing a smile on her face.

"Ready to paint my toenails?" Trina said somewhat smugly.

Jade said nothing but just stepped aside and pointed to the stairs. Jade had dreaded it but knew it was a small price to pay. Jade shut the door and lead Trina up to her room.

Upon entering, Trina's eyes scanned the room as a frown came to her face. "How Quaint!" She said, obviously not meaning it one bit.

"Let's get this over with." Jade groaned.

Trina sat down on Jade's bed, took of her sock's, shoes and got things ready to have her toe nails polished. Jade took a small chair and sat in front of the bed and put one of Trina's feet in her lap. She couldn't believe she was doing this of all things, just in the hope of getting Tori back.

"Use this ruby red one." Trina said as she handed Jade a bottle of nail polish.

Jade groaned and removed the cap and readied her first stroke. But as she moved, Trina grabbed her arm.

"Stop."

Confused, Jade looked at Trina. "What now Trina?"

Trina took the bottle of nail polish out of Jade's hands and put it on Jade's nightstand. "You don't have to do this."

"Huh? Then why did you…..what did you change your mind?"

Trina shook her head and pulled her foot out of Jade's lap. "I never had any intention of having you paint my toenails. Consider this a test as it were. I figured that painting my toenails was probably the 2nd most humiliating thing I could have you do to me. We won't even think about the other thing, you're never getting near that part of me. But I wanted to see how serious you were about getting on my sisters good side. You did as I asked with only a bit of grumbling. You were willing to put Tori and your getting back with her, above your own self-image."

Jade's eye's narrowed. "So I passed?"

"You most certainly did."

Jade then reached over, picked the bottle off the night stand and put Trina's foot in her lap.

"You don't have to do this Jade. You passed." Trina said with a look of confusion.

With a sad face Jade explained. "All the more reason for me to do it, to prove to you how serious I am about making things right. I really want this Trina. I want the old Tori back."

Trina was genuinely impressed with Jade's devotion and couldn't help but smile.

"Ok then."

Jade silently went to work, but as she did Trina spotted something. As Jade worked, the sleeve on her black long sleeve t shirt pulled up slightly. Trina spotted what appeared to be another cut.

"Hold it Jade." Trina said as she reached and pulled up Jade's sleeve on her left arm.

As she suspected there was a number of relatively looking fresh cuts.

"Do I even have to look at the other one Jade?" Trina said with a look of disappointment.

Jade put her head down. "No."

Trina crossed her arms. "Ok, you impressed me with your devotion but if you want my help you will need to do 3 perform 3 tasks for me."

Jade looked back up at Trina. "What?"

"Your scissors, all of them. Give them to me." Trina said sternly.

"WHAT?" Jade shouted.

"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch. Only for a while. I know you. If you try to kill yourself, you'll use a pair of scissors for sure. Probably the one from that dumb movie. So to keep you out of trouble and to keep you honest, I'll keep them until you get Tori back. Then they will be returned."

Jade didn't look happy but nodded none the less. "What else?"

"NO more cutting. If I see so much as a new scratch on your arm, the deal is off and you can try to win Tori back on your own. And good luck with that."

"Fine." Jade said with a note of resignation. "What's the 3rd thing."

"You need to tell someone in your family. I know you don't want to. You have to tell your mom that your gay and you need to tell her about your suicide attempt. Furthermore I have to be there to see it. I'll back you up if need be, but I need to be there."

Jade was silent for a moment. Trina half expected Jade to say no or put up an argument.

Jade started to shake as a look of fear gripped her face. "No…No…No…I…I..Can't. I can't tell her."

Trina immediately put her hand on Jade's shoulder. "Calm down. Calm down. I know it sounds sucky but it's for the best. I will be there. We don't have to give Tori's name. I've already figured out what to say. I'll run you through it tonight before I leave."

Jade just sat there still.

"Jade don't worry. I've got this all covered."

"Are you sure?"

Trina nodded. "As sure as I'm the smarter and prettier Vega sister."

Jade opened her mouth but Trina quickly interjected. "You just keep your opinion to yourself there, cause I don't want to hear it. So do we have a deal?"

Jade nodded. "Yes we do."

Trina extended her hand. "Well you've gotten yourself a helper. "

Jade reached out and shook Trina's hand. "Do I have to tell her tonight?"

Trina shook her head. "No, you've had enough for one night. Will she be home tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"Good, we'll do it then. You can finish my nails now. When you're done, will run through how we will handle it tomorrow."

Jade shook her head and got back to work.

"Don't worry, I'll get my sister to crack. Somehow. You just treat her right. Promise?" Trina said as she put her hand on Jade's shoulder.

"I promise." Jade meant that with every fiber of her being.

An hour later, Trina's toenails were done and Jade knew what she was going to say to her mother. Jade looked over at Trina with some discomfort, as the elder Vega put the last of her beloved scissors in a bag.

"We'll talk about what to do about Tori later. Let's just worry about your mom for now. I've got some ideas already, so after we talk with your mom we can discuss strategy. I need to get going." Trina said as she slung her bag over her shoulder.

Without warning Jade hugged Trina. "Thank you." The Goth said quickly.

The hug caught Trina off guard, but she knew that the Jade was an emotional wreck and probably needed it. Reluctantly she hugged back. But after a few seconds she let go, but Jade didn't.

"Ok, Jade. I stopped hugging, why haven't you?"

Jade instantly let go, looking slightly embarrassed.

Trina just scratched her head, while muttering something in Spanish "¿Por qué tengo que lidiar con estas idiotas?"

Jade who was very grateful for the help, pretended not to notice.

"Call me tomorrow Trina and I'll let you know when my mom is home."

Trina moved to the door. "Got it."

20 minutes later Trina was entering her home. Her bag now had 37 pairs of scissors in it and was rather heavy. She couldn't believe she had agreed to help Jade, but she had. She had begun to feel sorry for Jade and was convinced of her sincerity. In the end she knew this was the best plan to ultimately bring her sister back.

As she headed up the stairs she ran into Tori who had come out of the bathroom. Trina took a moment to study her sister's expression of annoyance. These days she had three facial expressions, blank, angry and annoyed.

"Back so soon Trina, I figured you'd be out all night. Not that I care, but where did you go anyway?"

Trina grinned. "I was at Jade's house. She was nice enough to paint my toenails. After that, she gave me all her scissors. They're right in this bag. Want to see them?"

Tori's face instantly turned red, as she huffed. "If you didn't want me to know, then just tell me. " Tori then stormed into her room and slammed the door shut.

Trina resisted the urge to laugh her head off. She had told Tori the absolute truth and Tori didn't believe a single word of it.

"I might actually be able to pull this off. Sometimes I amaze myself. " Trina said with a confident smile, as she walked into her room.

**Translation - "****¿Por qué tengo que lidiar con estas idiotas = Why do I have to deal with these idiots? She was referring to both Jade and Tori.**

**Trina is Jade's ally and on top of that she told Tori the truth. Tori of course didn't believe a single word of it. How funny is that?**


	27. Confessions

**Disclaimer: The show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 27 – Confessions**

**No One's POV**

Jade's was nervous, very nervous. On top of everything heaped upon her, she had to come out to her mother and explain what happened. Jade didn't get along with either of her parents. Her father was distant and unemotional and she frequently butted heads with her mother. Though she was loathe to admit it, they had very similar personalities.

At 7 o'clock the doorbell rang and once again Jade opened the door to see Trina Vega standing there.

"How are my babies?" Jade instantly blurted out. Jade couldn't help but worry about her scissors that were now trapped inside the Vega home.

"Even before this Jade, you were seriously bent." Trina said with a shake of her head, as she walked past the Goth into the house.

"I was just asking."

"You want to hear something real funny?" Trina said with a grin.

Jade just looked at Trina. "What?"

"When I got home, Tori actually asked me where I was."

Jade's eyes opened wide. "What did you tell her?"

Trina began to laugh. "I told her the truth. That I was at your house, you painted my nails and I had all of your scissors in my bag. I even asked if she wanted to see them."

Jade's jaw dropped open.

Trina began to laugh even harder. "That's the funny part, she didn't fucking believe me. She got all mad and said." Trina then started a credible imitation of Tori's voice. "If you didn't want me to know, than just tell me." Trina then switched back to her normal voice. "Then she just went into her room and slammed the door."

Jade wasn't sure exactly why, but she suddenly started to laugh. It was a brief laugh, but a laugh the same and her first in weeks. Just the fact that Trina told the truth, which because it sounded so absurd Tori didn't believe her.

Trina smiled and was pleased that her little joke made Jade laugh. She was fairly certain the Goth was a nervous wreck. She gave Jade a friendly pat on the back. "Is your mom here?"

Jade nodded, "She's in the living room. My dad is working late, but that's nothing out of the ordinary. I think they both work so much so they don't have to see each other."

"Good, just explain it like I told you. Let's go. You'll do fine." Trina said with a nod.

Jade led the way across the well decorated house. It was an older house with hardwood floors and wood paneling. Trina followed Jade into a large living room where a woman in her 40's was sitting on the couch watching some old movie. Facially she looked like Jade but with a more prominent chin. She also had short brown hair and intelligent eyes.

"Mom. I need to talk to you." Jade said with a slight squeak to her voice. Trina stood behind Jade in the doorway.

She must have sensed by the tone in Jade's voice that something was amiss. "Yes."

Jade heisted for a moment and took a deep breath. "We'll for starters, I'm gay."

For a moment there was an unreadable expression on Brenda's face and an awkward silence. Jade during this time involuntarily cringed as she expected the worst.

Brenda then got up off the couch and walked towards Jade. As she moved forward a sympathetic expression gradually formed on her face.

"Is this something you are sure of jade? That you really feel this way?"

Jade nodded. "I'm sure."

At this point Brenda looked to Trina who was standing 4 feet behind Jade. Trina quickly threw up her hands. "I'm just a friend and here for moral support."

Brenda then put her hand on Jade's shoulder. "I can't imagine that was easy for you to say. But I'm proud of you."

Jade couldn't help but gasp slightly at her mother's positive reaction.

"Despite our differences, you still are my daughter and I love you. I won't deny that." Brenda said with note of pride in her voice.

"Honestly mom, I wasn't sure how you would react."

"You were afraid?"

Jade looked down in shame. "I was afraid, too afraid. I couldn't face what I was and I messed everything up."

A suspicious look came to Brenda's eye's "I get the feeling there is a lot more to this story. I can't say I've noticed you've not been yourself lately. I guessed it was because of your break up with Beck. But there is something else here isn't it. Like your panic attack and hospital stay the other night."

After a pregnant pause Jade finally spoke. "I had it, after I tried to kill myself."

After looking stunned for a moment, Brenda seemed to get angry and scared at the same time. She then slapped Jade across the face. "How could you do such a stupid thing?"

But just as quickly as she got angry and scared, a look of anguish appeared on Brenda's face. She then took Jade in her arms and hugged her as Tears burst from the eyes of both women.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you baby." Brenda said through the tears.

"I'm sorry mom."

Trina just stood there, feeling not sure if she should witness such a private moment. It was odd as well witnessing more of Jade's vulnerable side. Something Trina had seen a lot of recently. But to Trina, that only confirmed Jade's seriousness about putting things right.

After a moment in each other's arms, the pair broke apart. "Jade what happened. What did you screw up? Is that why you tried to kill yourself?"

Jade wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "There was this girl. She liked me a lot. I liked her but I don't think I realized it at first. We kissed and spent time together at a party. It was wonderful. But she had to leave early and I was left alone. I….I….got scared of what it all meant for me personally. All the fears and worries just started to swirl around in me. I suffered a panic attack. On my way out I ran into Beck. It just felt safe with him. I was a coward and got back together with him in order to avoid what I felt. I denied the truth."

"Then what happened?"

"I was going to tell her let her down gently, but she found out at the wrong time, I never got a chance to explain. She was hurt, badly hurt."

Jade had trouble speaking for a moment as a tear came to her eye. "I never meant to hurt her. She said she wanted nothing to do with me. When I finally realized how badly I screwed up I tried to apologize, but she was cold and cruel. I felt so bad, I could barely stand myself. She ignored my calls, my attempts to apologize. She finally played horrible prank on me, having me come to Karaoke Dokie, saying she wanted to talk. Then she just left me there and sent a text saying how much a fool I was. That pushed me over the edge. But Trina here stopped me and took me to the hospital."

Brenda's face hardened. "Who is this girl? What ever could you see in someone so horrible?"

"I don't want to say her name. I don't want to get her in trouble. She doesn't know what's she's doing. This isn't her."

Trina interjected. "Yes Mrs. West. This girl, we'll call her Jane. I know her and she is not acting like herself. Actually she's acting very unlike herself. She's normally very kind and caring. But I think she was so hurt she just built this emotional wall around herself. Jane's not herself. But I assure you, I will see to it that she get's help. I know her and her family."

"We'll first of all Trina, thank you. I'm not even sure what to say. Thank you for being there for Jade. Are you sure about this Jane?"

Trina sadly nodded. "Yeah, this isn't her. It's like a stranger moved into her body. I think she's gotten so scared of being hurt again she's pushed everyone near her as far away as possible."

Jade sighed. "I made her like this mom. I caused her to be like this. I need to make this up to her, I need to fix this."

Brenda had never seen her normally tough as nails daughter so vulnerable before. This had really shaken her up. But seeing the look in Jade's eye's brought a sudden realization to Brenda.

"You still have feelings for her don't you?"

Jade swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes. I want The old Tor-" Jade said but caught herself as she realized she had begun to say Tori's name.

Brenda's eyes opened wide. "You mean Tori Vega? That girl that saved you from that Morgan Tate?"

Jade put her head down again as a tear fell off her cheek and onto the hardwood floor. "Even though I had been a gank to her during this bet we had, she saved me. Because she liked me and didn't want to see me hurt. Then what to I do, I thank her by building up her hopes and smashing them to pieces, because I was too cowardly to face my feelings."

Trina raised her hand. "Mrs. West. I'm Tori's sister. I'm sorry if I was evasive but I mean what I said. Tori is not herself. The girl that pulled that mean prank, wasn't my sister. Frankly, I want my sister back and Jade more than anything wants a 2nd chance with Tori. But in order to do that, we need to break down her walls."

Jade and Trina could tell that Mrs. West didn't look too convinced at this point.

"What about you Jade? Do you feel like you can break through. Because I don't want to see you get hurt. Maybe you should just walk away."

Jade vigorously shook her head. "No..No..I can't. I need to make a solid effort to fix this. If I don't I'll always regret it. I owe it to her."

"After what she nearly drove you to doing!" Snapped Brenda.

Jade stepped forward and assumed an assertive stance. "Mom, this is my fault. I broke her heart, I'm responsible for her being like this. I need to try. If I fail, then at least I can say I tried. Then I can walk away."

Brenda could see not only the regret in Jade's eyes, but determination as well. She knew that once Jade set her mind on something she wouldn't let go easily. That was a trait Brenda knew that she shared with her daughter. Brenda was not without some guilt as well. She knew that she and her husband had spent a lot of time ignoring each other and Jade.

"Jade. I think this is partially my fault. I should have been there for you. You need a mother and I haven't always been there. I'll you'll let me, I'll make a effort to be a better mother. But you need to get some counseling. This endeavor to put things right as it were. I want your assurance that you know when to quit."

Jade nodded as a sober look came to her face. "I'll know when to quit. When that time comes, if it comes. I'll walk away. But I hope it doesn't come to that."

With that Jade and her mother embraced for a moment in silence. Trina felt good that at least this part of the plan had gone right. In fact it had gone better than she'd even expected.

After the hug, Mrs. West walked over to Trina and gave her a big hug. "Thanks for saving my daughter. It seems to be a habit for your family doesn't it."

Trina chuckled. "Sure does doesn't it."

Brenda looked to Jade. "We can talk more later. But you are ok?"

"Getting there, slowly."

Trina nudged Jade. "Come on let's get something to eat. There's a diner over on Pico. They've got great coffee and everyone knows how much you like that."

"Oh, before you leave Trina, please join us for dinner next Saturday. It's the least I could do with all that you've done."

"Sure." Trina said with a nod.

Trina knew that in order to help her sister, she needed to help Jade. One of the first things she realized she need to do was to pull Jade, out of her self destructive spiral. Bring her back to her old self or at least a semblance of her old self. Trina simply put it as, "I need to make Jade a lot less pathetic."

So that night she took Jade to a small diner that she knew had great coffee. She avoided conversation about Tori and got Jade to talk about herself. Something Jade did reluctantly. Trina lightened the mood and told a funny story about her friend Molly which broke the ice a bit.

As it turned out Trina found she had a decent time, much to her surprise. She wasn't sure about Jade, but her spirits seemed to lift slightly. She planned to take Jade out a few more times to get her moving again so to speak, have some fun.

Jade was amazed how different the two Vega sisters were. While Tori was kind and caring and a bit neurotic. Trina was forceful and though she appeared shallow and vain, she was a caring person beneath. Trina was not one to beat around the bush about her opinions. Though on the negative side, Trina had a rather inflated opinion of her talents.

The next night, they went to the movies and the day after that Trina even drove Jade to one of the outdoor locations where the scissoring was filmed. Though Trina despised the movie and actually thought it was really stupid, she knew it was an important thing for Jade.

The location was in a wooded area just outside of Los Angles and one of the big chase scenes was filmed there. Trina sat on a huge rock while Jade acted out the part of the victim as she was chased through the forest by the killer. Trina could tell Jade was enjoying herself.

Oh she wasn't her old self, not by a long shot. But she could see signs of the old Jade. She would make acid comments more and would smirk on occasion.

After taking pictures and reenacting the chase, Jade came up to Trina. "So when are we going to try to get through to Tori? I appreciate you taking me out here and the other things, but I want to get to work."

"I know you want to get right to business, but you were looking pretty pathetic and you needed some fun to lighten you up. Bring a bit of the old you, that my sister for some odd reason find's appealing."

"Thanks." Jade said sarcastically.

"Well today is Saturday and we are having dinner at your house. I hope your mom can cook. We can make our first crack tomorrow."

Jade hopped on the rock and sat next to Trina. "What do you have in mind?"

"The direct approach. I know about when her break is at work. I will be in the food court at that time eating. I will see her and invite her to eat with me. After a few minutes I'll ask why you don't come around anymore. See what she says. See if I can get her to open up."

"What do I do?"

"Well I don't want to leave you out so, you just disguise yourself and you can watch from afar. If this doesn't work. You'll play a more active part in our next attempt."

A couple of hours later Trina and Jade were all sitting down at the dinner table at the West Home.

"My husband wanted to make it but he had to go out of town on work." Brenda said as she brought in a tray of food. As she placed it on the table Jade could see it appeared to be a slice of beef wrapped around a pickle. It was all tied together by some string. Before Trina could ask what it was, Brenda spoke.

"It's called rouladen, it's a German Dish. It's my grandmother's recipe. Her whole family was German. I don't make it often, but Jade loves it and it's a special occasion."

Trina felt somewhat awkward about it all. It seemed a lot of fuss, but the dish looked and smelled good.

As they started to eat, Brenda asked. "So were you friends before this all happened?"

Trina looked at Jade and shook her head. "No, we kind of hated each other."

"But this brought you together as friends?"

Trina nodded. "I'd never really seen this vulnerable side of Jade before and I guess if anything came out of this mess is that we do seem to be friends now." She looked at Jade to see how the Goth would react and she showed the hint of a smile and nodded. It was an unlikely friendship but Jade truly appreciated Trina's efforts to bring Tori back and after a bit of time, she found the elder Vega grew on her. Trina felt much the same way about Jade.

After dinner, Jade and Trina were sitting up in Jade's room when Trina suddenly exclaimed. "Oh my god I almost forgot." Trina then rushed to her bag and pulled out a small brown teddy bear with blue overalls. Jade recognized it as the one she had won for Tori. It looked intact except for a red blotch on one arm.

Jade grabbed it from Trina's hands. "How did you get this?"

"I meant to give it to you the other day. I found it in the trash, in the kitchen. Oh that red splotch isn't blood, its marinara sauce. Though knowing you, I'm sure you'll like to imagine its blood. I figured you'd like to hold onto it. At least until you can give it back to Tori."

Jade smiled broadly. It was just a silly bear that she had won for Tori, but somehow having it brought comfort to her.

"Thank you Trina. You're the greatest."

Trina flipped her hair back. "Now if only the casting agents would figure that out."

Jade just shook her head as her already wide smile, got just a bit bigger.

That night, lying in bed Jade looked over to the bear as it sat on her dresser. She was having problems falling asleep. Part of it is that she was worried about their attempt tomorrow to get through to Tori. Jade didn't look forward to sleep anyway. Part of it is that she was worried about their attempt tomorrow to get through to Tori. That's when the nightmares came. A thought formed in Jade's head and she got and picked up the bear.

Taking a long sniff she could faintly smell Tori, in addition to marinara sauce. But just that faint wisp of a smell was enough motivation for Jade to take the bear into bed with her. Tori must have slept with the bear knowing it was from me, Jade thought. At least until…

Jade took the bear and like she did so long ago, clutched it tightly to her chest. The faint smell of Tori, quickly help her fall into a peaceful sleep.

**Tomorrow is their first attempt to get through to Tori. Will this work or will Jade give up?**

**Rouladen is a real german dish. I wanted them to have something unusual for dinner and that popped into my mind. **


	28. Cracks in the wall

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 28 – Cracks in the wall.**

**No One's POV**

It was a busy Sunday afternoon at the mall and the lunch crowd was starting to thin out as 1:00 O'clock approached. Jade and Trina stood at the top of the stairway that lead up to the 3rd floor food court. Trina was dressed normally but Jade looked very different from her normal self.

She was wearing a yellow top, a pair of black slacks and a short blonde wig.

Trina pointed to one corner of the food court. "Get your food and sit there. I'll sit about 20 yards away. From what little Tori has said, she takes her lunch break between 1 and 1:15 and she sits in the food court. I'll be waiting for Tori to come by and will call her to my table. You just do as we practiced and pretend to read the romance novel I gave you."

Jade pulled out the book and frowned. It had a picture of shirtless man standing on the bow of a 18th century ship as a love stricken woman stands at his side. "It looks stupid. Besides, you see icebergs in the water. He's got to be freezing standing outside like that."

Trina briefly huffed. "I said pretend to read it, and who cares if he's cold. Just as long as he looks sexy. Just don't lose my place. Come on, let's go."

Jade looked at the top she was wearing. "Where did you get this top anyway, it's hideous."

Trina smirked. "Funny you say that, it's actually Tori's"

Jade instantly fumed. "Are you nuts? She'll recognize it!"

Trina waved her hand. "No she won't. All you have is weird looking Goth clothes and none of my stuff fits you. Besides Tori has a closet full of crap she never wears. Outfits that she thinks are cute in the store then get exiled to her closet. I simply liberated that particularly bright piece. Hide in plain sight as it were."

Jade shook her head and walked off to the salad hut to get her lunch.

10 minutes later both were in positions. Jade was in a corner, wearing prop glasses and pretending to read a romance novel while eating her lunch. Trina was sitting a few tables away waiting for her sister to come along.

Sure enough at 1:14 Trina saw Tori walk across the food court, tray in hand. "Hey Tori!" Trina called out with a friendly wave of her hand. Both Trina and Jade noticed, that for a moment it appeared that Tori wanted to turn around and go back. But she lowered her head and walked to the table.

"What brings you here?" Asked Tori in a neutral voice.

"Sale at Victoria's secret. I was going to buy some stuff. You have a few minutes Join me." Trina said as she took a bite of her sesame chicken. There actually was a sale at Victoria's secret that day. Trina made sure to know which stores had sales that day. So she couldn't be caught in a lie, when she gave the reason for being there.

Tori briefly looked around, taking a moment to notice the blonde woman in the yellow top a few tables away. Both the woman and top looked strangely familiar but Tori quickly pushed it from her mind as Trina said. "Come on. Sit down. What are you waiting for an engraved invitation?"

Tori then sat down and Trina began to talk. Instead of going right for it, she took time to drone on about a possible chance to work as a movie extra coming up soon. Tori listened with a somewhat bored expression saying very little. But then Trina moved to the real reason to be there.

"You know Tori. I haven't seen much of you lately. You're either working or in your room. I can't even recall you going out much." Trina said trying to sound very casuall.

Jade who could hear, noticed that Tori looked off to the side briefly. It was as if she was thinking of something. "I've just been working a lot. I'm on my feet 6-8 hours a day her at the pizza place. I'm usually tired when I get home." Tori sounded convincing with that statement, but it sounded too convincing. It occurred to Jade, that it sounded like Tori had practiced that response many times.

Trina reached over and nudged Tori's arm. "It's summer Tori. You need to relax. You always look so tense. There's time to work and time to play. Be like me, audition for something."

Tori paused as she studied Trina's expression. But instead of speaking she simply took a bite of her pizza.

"I haven't even seen any of your friends Tori. Andre or Cat or Freako Doll boy. Though I heard Beck left town." Trina said as she took a bite of her food.

At the mention of Beck's name, Tori momentarly stiffened and her eyes seemed to grow ever so slightly colder. "Just been too busy. I'm sure they have things to do as well."

Jade knew it was coming as they had practiced it earlier. Jade in fact was a bit nervous. Her experience with Tori recently had left her almost scared of Tori. Scared of being noticed and rejected yet again.

"Speaking of Beck. I can't imagine Jade's too happy about it. But I heard that they broke up again…I'm not really sure if that's the case. Speaking of the devil, how come I haven't seen her around. I thought you two were best buds or something."

The change in Tori was unmistakable. She immediately tensed up and her jawline seemed to harden. Trina pretended not to notice.

"She's not my friend at all!" Hissed Tori after a tense pause.

Trina said her next planned line as she smiled. "Reverted back to gank mode hasn't she? Figures it would happen. If you don't mind me asking, what happened."

"I don't want to talk about it!" Snapped Tori almost instantly.

Trina put on her concerned face. "Hey I'm your sister. You can talk to me."

For a instant it appeared like Tori was going to say something as her features grew soft. But her expression quickly changed.

"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Tori half yelled.

"Now I know something's wrong." Trina said as she tried to put her hand's on Tori's in reassurance.

Tori pulled her hand back and stood up. "Trina just stay out of my fucking business. I have to get back to work." With that Tori left the tray and stomped off towards the pizza place.

Trina sighed. She hoped Tori would open up but, that simply didn't happen. After a moment she looked towards Jade. She had gotten up from the table and walked away with a very sad expression on her face.

**Trina's POV**

Perhaps I was being overconfident but I was sure we would break through on the first try. For a moment I thought I did have her, but her walls came shooting back up. After Tori left I couldn't help but watch Jade walk away. I used to hate her, but things are different. We each see the person beneath the surface. What she did to my sister haunts her, I can see it in her eyes every day. She tells me of the nightmares she has almost nightly. She said she dies in nearly every one of them.

I quickly finished my lunch to not make my behavior look suspicious and headed to the parking lot where Jade and I were planning to meet if things didn't go well. I found Jade leaning up against her car with her head down.

"Strike one." Jade said without looking up.

I punched Jade in the shoulder. "Snap out of it. You're looking pathetic again. You won't win anybody's heart looking like that."

Her head popped up and she quickly glared at me.

"Angry is good, not great, but better than depressed. Come on let's go back to your place. I have an idea for something we can do." I said before she could say anything.

Jade just nodded and walked around to the side of the car. On the way home I asked her.

"OK, say Tori says she'll talk to you. What are you going to say?"

Jade looked baffled for a moment, as if she hadn't thought that far. "Don't tell me you didn't have it planned out. Aren't you a writer?"

"Yeah." Jade said defensively.

"We'll let's work on that part. The part where you actually have to say something."

A short while later Jade and I were in Jade's room. I moved to one corner of the room crossed my arms/ "Now pretend I'm Tori."

"OK, Jade you want to talk. Talk!" I said as a disapproving sneer formed on my face.

I could tell Jade was really nervous. She took a moment to gather her courage and slowly stepped forward.

"Um…Er….Um… Look Tori. I didn't mean to…" Jade tried to talk but instantly began to fumble over her words.

"What! You didn't meant to destroy my heart!" I snapped.

Jade stepped back as her courage seemed to vanish. She let out a forlorn sigh and sat on her bed. I sat down and though I felt slightly uncomfortable about it, put my arm in comforting fashion around Jade.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get this down. Don't worry."

"Thank you for all you've done." Jade said after a moment's pause.

"Now let's try it again."

Over the days the continued role playing. It was obvious to me that Jade had become afraid of Tori. It sounded wholly ridiculous, but it did seem true. But after many sessions, Jade seemed to be prepared.

We tried our second attempt just over a week later. By chance a new coffee place had opened. Jade and I took the opportunity to set a plan to try play on Tori's sympathies. I got some good news on top of that, which help me set the scene nicely.

It was early in the evening on a Thursday night when I burst into Tori's room.

"Don't you knock!" Snapped Tori who was reading a book on her bed.

I grinned. "Not usually."

"What do you want?" Tori said as she put her book down.

I walked into the room and did a small dance. To celebrate."

"What?"

"I got that part as an extra in that movie. I will be a FBI office worker in one of the big scenes. They'll need me for at least 5 days. I leave tomorrow. I'm only in the background but I'm sure they'll see my talent and give me a speaking role." That was true and I'm sure they will see just how good I am.

"Mom and dad aren't home so I want to celebrate. I'm going to take you out for coffee at that new coffee house over on Cumberland."

Tori shook her head. "I'm kind of…"

I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed. "Stuff it Tori. You're going out. I'm sorry about upsetting you last week and at least let me make it up to you. We go, have one coffee and leave."

"Fine." Tori said, sounding like she really didn't want to go.

Tori stayed quiet for the car ride. So I told her about the part I had. It is in the main FBI office and I am one of the workers sitting at desk in the background. They'll need me for 5 days and they are shooting in San Diego. I told her that mom was going to go with me and we would stay down there.

Tori said that was good, but really didn't show any emotion. But as my story was ending we pulled up into the lot of Java Mountain, the latest coffee house. It was new and the parking lot was full.

We walked through the doors and our nostrils were filled with the aromatic smell of some exotic type of coffee. Off in one corner, a woman sat with a guitar and was playing a folk song. The place had a number of book shelves that were filled with books of all shapes and sizes. The place was pretty packed and we quickly got into line.

While waiting in line I asked a few questions about her job, which Tori answered rather little enthusiasm.

I had planned to say something to the effect that I hadn't planned to bring her up but Jade is here. But just as I opened my mouth to speak, I saw Tori look over in Jade's direction. I could tell Tori spotted her.

I could see Tori look over the corner where Jade was sitting. She was dressed all in black and sitting alone. A large cup of coffee sitting on the table in front of her. She wasn't doing anything other than starring at her cup. On her face was a look of absolute dejection. Jade wasn't acting, she pretty much just showed how she felt. She didn't look up, I told her to just sit there and stare at her cup, looking very depressed.

While Tori was carefully studying Jade, I was carefully studying Tori's expression. Much to my frustration it was unreadable. She continued to study Jade and her lips parted slightly.

It was at that second, Jade looked up. She wasn't supposed to look up at all. I can't say that I blame Jade for doing it, however I was irratated that she did.

Tori's face suddenly morphed into one of disbelief and i could have sworn she mouthed the words "I hate you" to Jade. Tori at that point just walked out of the coffee house.

I ran out after her. "What gives? She was just sitting there."

Tori fumed. "You took me here. I should have just stayed in my room. All Jade does, is like to toy with me. Take me home!"

Not wanting to make the situation worse, I took her home. She said nothing on the way home and nothing as she walked into the house and up into her room.

I knew Tori wouldn't emerge from her room so I took a walk outside and phoned Jade.

"I'm sorry Trina, I fucked up. I knew she was there and I had to see her. I blew my chance, it's over." Jade said right off the bat.

"Stop that!" I commanded quickly. "This isn't over. She thought you were toying with her. But it's only a minor setback."

"What next?"

I scratched my head. "Well, I'll be in San Diego until next Friday because I'll be an extra in a movie. I have one or two ideas and and I'll give them some thought. When I come back next Friday we can sit down an plan our next move."

"OK."

I thought for a moment. "Why don't you spend some time with Cat. She's a pest, but hanging with her might perk you up a bit.'

Jade ignored my insult to Cat and said. "Sounds good."

"Jade this will work, You'll have Tori back and I'll have my sister back. I promise." I said trying to reassure her.

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

**No One's POV**

Unbeknownst to Trina and Jade, they had actually managed to crack Tori's walls a bit. Tori was tempted to open up to her sister in the mall. The sight of a utterly depressed looking Jade was upsetting to Tori. But that look Jade gave her just made Tori mad. At first she thought Jade was messing with her. Thinking back now she wasn't so sure. In any case, part of her didn't want Jade to get to her.

The next night, Tori was all alone in the house. Trina and her mom were in San Diego while Trina was in that movie. Her dad was out on an extended stakeout. So the house was empty except for Tori.

Up to now she spent most of her time in her room, reading or watching telvision. But the isolation which was very comforting at first, had gradually started to get to her. She was even tiring of only feeling angry and little else.

For the first time in weeks, she wanted to feel something. Even if it was only physical. Tori's thoughts ran to female companionship of some kind. A certain person was most certainly out of the question. Tori refused to even think Jade's name.

Not feeling any sense of danger, caution, or much else, Tori decided to possibly take a risk. She knew there were various lesbian bars in the area. But she was not of drinking age. Regardless, she was curious to learn about them. She went online and looked them up, taking time to read some message boards, so to see what types hung there. Were they upscale, more pedestrian or something else.

She was looking at an obscure message board, when she read about a Lesbian Bar named. "Nyx". It was a most unusual name and Tori looked it up. She read that Nyx was one of the ancient Greek god's. The entry stated in fact, she was goddess of the night.

She posted on the board, asking what the place was like. A message was posted a few minutes later by someone called deb158. The message said, It was one of the lesser known bars but catered to all types and was actually very nice. It had a nice dance floor, good music and was discrete for those wishing to be discrete.

Tori sent a message back to the person thanking them about letting her know about the bar. She then posted she would like to see it someday when she's a year or two older.

A minute she got a personal message back. "In all honesty, I can't say I would recommend this. But the owner of Nyx has been known to look the other way when younger ladies she finds attractive, try to get in."

Tori read that sentence 4 times. She had wanted to feel something and cracks were appearing in her walls. She wanted to feel something so badly she decided to take a risk. Maybe doing something dangerous and risky would help her feel something other than anger. So Tori took out a plain, but nice black dress, put on her make up and headed towards Nyx.

** Tori wants to feel alive so she's taking a huge rist by going to NYX. ****What will Tori find at NYX? Time will only tell. **

**I've since been told that there is a gay club in Amsterdam called Nyx. I had no idea. I wanted to name the lesbian bar after an ancient goddes. I looked at a list of names of greek god's and Nix the ancient greek goddes of night seemed like a very suitable name and that's why i picked it. The name is pure conicidence. **


	29. NYX

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 29 – NYX**

**No One's POV**

Tori took a moment to look at Nyx before she got out of her car. It was a cream colored cement block building that appeared to have been a small factory at one point in time. The lot was filled with cars but Tori's attention was soon drawn to a single red door. Above it a neon sign said NYX. She spotted a few plate glass windows at various points around the building. She could see only a few distorted lights coming from within.

As she got out of the car, she realized she wasn't nervous or scared. All she felt was a twinge of apprehension. She had been cut off from most of her feelings for a few weeks now and had begun to miss them. She went there not only for a physical release, but to possibly feel the thrill of doing something daring.

Of course she had no idea if she would actually get in. Tori did realize this could be a very short adventure.

"Here Goes." Said Tori to herself, as she pulled open the door.

Upon entering the first thing she noticed was the throb of some pulsing dance tune. One she couldn't quite place. It took a second to for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but quickly became aware of a larger African American man sitting on a stool next to the door.

Without saying a word he quickly looked her over as Tori fumbled in her purse for her Id. Granted her id said she was only 18, but she felt the need to at least go through the motions. She handed him the id and he looked at it for a moment.

He then turned his head to a red haired woman in her 40's sitting at a table about 20 feet from the doorway. The woman instantly looked Tori over and she suddenly felt very self conscious about it. After what seemed like an eternity the woman cracked half a smile and subtly nodded to the bouncer.

"We hope you enjoy Nix, Have a pleasant evening." He said, as he handed the Id back.

Tori was amazed it worked and took several steps into the bar to see what it looked like. The bar itself was dimly lit with either grey or black walls. It was illuminated by long strips of blue neon lights that ran along the joint between the ceiling and the wall. The main bar shaped like an oval and sat in the center of the room directly in front of her. Scattered about on either side were tables and a number of booths. Up past the bar and off to the left was a dance floor. Beyond that were more booths and what appeared to be a pool table in the back. Of course Tori noticed there were no men, save the rather large bouncer sitting behind her. The bar itself seemed to have a good crowd, though it wasn't packed. The crowd itself was a good mix. Some women looked very butch, some very feminine. Some looked higher class some didn't.

Tori took a deep breath and walked further into the bar, taking the time to give a nod and a smile to what she guessed was the bar owner. As she did the woman made a motion to come over, which Tori did.

Tori thought it best to let the woman speak first. She looked her over for a moment from her seat and gently ran her hand up Tori's thigh. It was a good feeling to be touched.

"Do you know the meaning of the word discretion?" She asked, with a serious look.

Tori nodded. "Yes I do."

She smiled. "That's a very important concept here. " The way the woman said it, sounded very much like a warning.

"I understand."

"Good. You're in the big leagues now. Enjoy our establishment. The first drink is on the house."

With that the woman made a motion to the female bartender and went back to watching the crowd, as she had been.

"Thank you." Tori said as she headed to the bar. Finding an empty seat Tori deposited herself and began to watch the crowd. It looked like a normal night club. Except for the fact that there were no men and she could see a number of female couples getting close, both on the dance floor or the more intimate darkness of the booths.

"What will you have?" The female bartender with very short brown hair said.

"A cosmopolitan please."

A minute later, Tori was sitting at the bar with the drink in front of her. She was almost disappointed to see no one really paying attention to her. Many of the women were either talking to friends or companions. She did catch one or two women looking her over. Tori can't say it didn't give her a bit of a thrill. The first real thing she felt in some time. For a half an hour she just watched the crowd.

Just as was about to order her third drink, a female hand put one down in front of her. Turning to her left, she saw a gorgeous woman with shoulder length blond hair sitting next to her. Tori could see she was very well dressed and appeared to be in her late 30's. Tori liked her and just having the woman sit next to her sent a tingle down her spine.

"You looked thirsty." The woman purred.

Tori decided to take the bait. Besides being beautiful, there was a look of supreme confidence in her eyes. It was as if she knew she already knew she was going to get what she wanted. Tori found it somewhat hypnotic. "I was. Thank you." Tori said with a coy smile.

The woman smile widened. "You looked a bit surprised for a moment when I sat down next to you."

Tori nodded. "I was, a bit."

The woman inched her barstool just a fraction of an inch closer. "Surely, deep down you knew someone would eventually sit down next to you. There are a lot of places in LA for a young woman to be alone with her thoughts. This particular place, isn't one of them. I suspect you already knew that."

It was just the way the woman said it, with an odd mixture of confidence and sexuality that caused Tori to further be drawn in. "I was kind of hoping someone would." Tori said bashfully.

The woman extended her hand. "Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Karla"

Tori took the Karla's hand it felt so soft and warm. "I'm Tori."

"Tori, that's such a wonderful name. Is it short for Victoria?"

"Yes it is."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful woman." It was a horribly cheesy line, but once again Tori found she had a way with words.

"You're very beautiful yourself." Tori found herself saying.

Karla looked ever so please by the remark. "So, what's your passion?"

Tori looked confused for a moment. "Passion?"

"What do you love to do above all else?"

"Oh, I get it. I love to sing. I want to be a pop star. Sounds a bit silly, but that's my dream."

Karla, smiled and put her hand on the back of Tori's hand for a brief moment. "No, never apologize about your passion. I'll bet your good. " At this point she seemed to have a realization. "Wait a second. I remember you. You were on the platinum music awards. I saw you sing. You're dam good."

Now it was Tori's time to be ever so pleased. "Thank you. So what's your passion."

"There are many answers to that question, but I like to sell. I'm in advertising. I'm a VP over at Fina and Keller. I'm good at my job. I usually get what I want."

It made perfect sense to Tori she was in sales. Tori could tell she was extremely good at what she did. For the next hour the pair talked. Tori avoided saying she was in high school, though she guessed that Karla already knew that. She described her school as a performing art's school. But Karla would listen intently as Tori talked about her hopes of being a pop star. Karla along the way gave Tori some tips on how to sell yourself.

"That is what you are doing. You are selling yourself, your image at least, to your audience."

For the first time in a while Tori felt something other than anger. Maybe it was the thrill of the fact that she was an 18 year old in a lesbian bar being hit on by a stunningly beautiful and intelligent woman. Tori felt things click and the conversation flowed pretty well. Of course she avoided all talk of a certain unnamed female. She merely told Karla she had been with one woman who was not worth mentioning. It felt good to have someone interested.

Tori noticed that the woman would complement her often and occasionally touch her, but only briefly. Each time she touched her for a just a tiny bit longer. Each touch left Tori wanting more and caused her heart to beat just a bit faster After a while, Tori couldn't wait for the next touch as she made her own move and ran her hand up Karla's leg.

Karla smiled broadly and took Tori's hand in hers. About a moment later a slow song came on. Karla got up from the barstool. Come on Tori, lets dance.

The song was an old 80's standard Spandau Ballet's, True. The DJ had been playing a mix of modern and classic 80's tunes tonight. Tori felt a rush as Karla lead her by the hand to the dance floor. Already several other couples were there. When they got to the dance floor, Karla took the lead and put her arms around Tori. For what seemed like a blissful eternity she and Karla danced. It was the most Tori had felt in some time.

Tori was sure her heart was going to beat out of her chest. But as she gazed into Karla's eyes, she felt the need to be a bit honest.

"Karla, I'm only…" That's all Tori got out before the Karla aggressively pressed her lips against Tori's. As Karla quickly deepened the kiss she felt Karla holding her ever so tighter. Tori felt her whole body react as she felt like a charge surged through her.

After a moment Karla broke the kiss and let up her grip just a bit. Tori found herself not liking that and started her own kiss. For the rest of the song and the next slow song after that Tori felt the thrill of doing something totally out of character.

It was near the end of the 2nd dance, Karla leaned into her ear and whispered. "Let's go somewhere private?"

Tori felt another charge surge through her. Once again she flashed a coy smile. "So do you have a particular place in mind?"

"Karla let out a smirk. I can think one or two places."

Tori smirked herself. "I hope your bedroom is one of them." Tori said as she slid her hand down on to Karla's ass. She couldn't believe she had said that, but again it was the thrill.

Karla looked into Tori's eyes. "My condo has a wonderful view of the ocean. It's beautiful in the morning. You're going to love it. Come on Let's go."

As Tori was led off the dance floor, the other patrons looked on the scene with amusement. Most of them knew Karla preferred young women. When they saw Tori enter the bar, the assumed Karla would be the one to take her home. But one set of eyes, looked on Tori as she was led out of the bar with utter shock.

This person had been playing pool in the back and hadn't noticed the Latina's presence, until just before she was being led off the dance floor. She had to do a double take when she recognized Tori Vega. Just to be sure, she followed Tori and Karla to the door as the left the bar together.

But she was sure, Tori Vega was going home with lesbian Cougar, Karla Grant. But she suspected no one, especially her roommate Cat would believe her. So Sam Puckett, a sometime patron of this bar, took out her phone and subtly took a picture of Karla and Tori as they left the bar.

"Holy Fuck!" Was the only thing Sam could say.

"You can follow me in your car. I don't live too far from here Tori." Karla said as they walked across the parking lot.

But as Tori walked she had what she would later call, a moment of clarity. In one flash she realized she was being stupid. Going home with a strange woman, old enough to be her mother. Not to mention that she further realized what she was feeling was only due to the fact she was taking a huge risk. She sensed that going home with Karla would not solve her inability to feel. It had nothing to do with Jade actually. It just felt like the wrong and stupid thing to do.

Tori stopped walking. "I'm sorry Karla, I can't do this."

Karla stopped and looked gave Tori a curious look. "Is something the matter?"

"I'm very sorry, you're beautiful and I want to be with you. But I'm not sure if I should do this. If I'm ready for this. Not to mention I think I'm doing this for the wrong reasons. I think I'm just going to go home." Tori said sadly. She immediately braced for what she expected to be a hostile reaction.

But Karla made a sad smile and gently caressed Tori's cheek. "It takes courage sometimes to admit one is not ready. You are a beautiful and intelligent and rather sexy woman. "

Tori was surpised. "You're not mad?"

"NO, I'm in sales and I've been rejected more times than I can count. I've learned not to take it personally. Just because someone tells you no one day, doesn't mean they won't say yes another day. I'm bit disappointed yes, but I'm far from angry." Karla then pulled out a card from her purse.

"If you'd ever like to see the ocean from my condo in the morning, give me a call. Good night Tori Vega." With that, Karla gave Tori one last sensual kiss and walked off to her Porsche.

Tori stood there for a few moments as she watched Karla disappear into the night. Tori knew she did the right thing but once again felt little. She felt no feeling of satisfaction that she did the right thing. She just knew she did.

Tori, just lowered her head, got in her car and drove home.

* * *

The next morning Jade took Trina's advice and gave Cat a call. She asked to come over and the Cat happily said yes.

Jade arrived around 10 am and Cat greeted her with a huge hug.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Since you and Beck broke up. Are you OK?"

Jade knew Cat meant well, but didn't want to go into detail. "I've just been going through some personal stuff. Sorry If I haven't been around."

Cat nodded and sensed that Jade didn't want to talk further about the subject.

"Come on in? I'll make some coffee for you." Cat said as she gestured to the couch.

"Thanks."

Jade let Cat do the talking and she spent some time talking about her babysitting service and all the misadventures she and her roommate Sam had. Jade was feeling better after a while, just hanging with her good friend Cat. At this point, a story about Cat's insane brother came as a welcome distraction to Jade's problems.

Eventually Sam came out of the bedroom, looking like she had just woken up.

"Hi sam." Cat said happily.

Sam ignored Cat and walked to the coffee maker to get herself a cup.

"She doesn't talk until her first cup of coffee." Cat said.

Jade couldn't help but smirk as she felt the same way on many a morning.

"It's strange with no one around, these days." Cat said, changing the subject. Beck's in Canada, you've been gone and I've only seen Tori once since school let out. She wasn't very nice. "

Jade nodded, but said nothing.

"She must be going through some stuff too."

Suddenly Sam's voice rang out from the kitchen where she was standing. "I saw her last night."

Both Jade and Cat immediately looked at Sam. "Where?" They said in unison.

"I was at Nyx last night and saw her there."

A confused look appeared on Jade's face. "NYX?"

"It's a lesbian Bar. Sam likes to…" Cat said before Sam cut her off.

"I'm bisexual, for the record. I've got a fake id and they've got a killer pool table. I hustle there all the time. You'd be amazed how much money I get from them."

The word's lesbian bar, hit Jade like a hammer. "She was there?" Jade said softly.

"She either has a fake ID herself or the owner, Gina let her in. She lets in younger women that she happens to find attractive. " Sam said between sip's of coffee.

Jade really didn't want to know the answer to the next question, but she had to ask anyway. "What was she doing there?"

Sam half smiled. "Hooking up with Karla Grant. She's a big advertising executive and a major cougar. I hear she never goes home with anyone older than 23. I saw them making out on the dance floor and they left, hand in hand afterward. "

Cat's mouth dropped open in shock. Jade's mouth didn't fall open, but the color seemed to drain from her face.

"Are you sure it was her?" Jade said with a tone of desperation to her voice.

Sam walked from the kitchen and grabbed her phone off the table. "It's a major no no taking pictures in there. The owner prides herself on privacy there. But I snapped a discrete shot, just so you wouldn't think I was making this up."

Sam held the phone and though the light was dim, both Jade and Cat could see it was unmistakably Tori, walking hand in hand with an older blonde woman.

Jade felt something inside her break. "Cat do me a favor. Don't say anything about this Please." Jade said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "Thanks for the coffee. I have to go."

"Ok. I will. Are you Ok Jade?" Cat said with a look of concern.

"I think I ate something bad this morning. I don't feel well." Jade said as she quickly made for the door.

Jade stopped in the doorway. "Could I borrow a pair of scissors Cat?"

"You don't have a pair?" Cat said with confusion.

"I forgot my pair."

Cat nodded and handed Jade a pair of scissors. "My brother forgets to wear shoes a lot."

Jade said thanks and then left.

In the car she took the sicssors and put them to her upper arm. She wanted to cut so badly. But realized it was pointless. It was all pointless. Jade just put the scissors down and started to cry. She did so all the way home. Jade was devastated. Just the thought of Tori going home with a stranger she met in a bar, killed her. It didn't take her long to make a important decision.

Several hours later, she called her teacher Mr. Sikowitz.

"Hello." Sikowitz answered.

"Hi, It's Jade West, your student." Jade said.

"Ahh…Jade what can I do for one of my best students." He said in a merry voice.

"You told me once that you are a good friend of a member of the faculty of the High School of the Performing arts In New York City. You said he was on the committee that screens new students."

Sikowitz's voice dropped to a more serious tone. "Yes."

"I have a favor to ask you then."

**Bad news, Jade has hit a new low point. Good news, most of the next chapter is done and will be out very soon.**

**So what does everyone think of Tori's decision? She thought that going with Karla was not only a stupid risk, but ultimately would not solve her problems. It is true that more than one person in this world has gone with someone they met at a bar and has never been seen again. But that aside, did she do the right thing by not going with Karla.**


	30. Seeing it all

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else but not me. **

**The Bet **

**Chapter 30 – Seeing it all.**

**Author's note: I thank you all for your patience. A lot will happen in the next two chapters. The light is at the end of the tunnel.**

**No One's POV.**

Trina arrived home, midafternoon on Friday from her stint as a film extra. While, much to her disappointment, she wasn't discovered, she did manage to learn a lot about how movies are made. She had only been home a couple of hours, when she got a call from Jade.

"Jade, how has it been going? I'm sorry I haven't called." Trina said.

"I need to talk to you, can you come over?" Jade said sounding quite down.

Trina could tell by the tone of Jade's voice that something was wrong and headed right for Jade's house.

It was Jade who answered the door. Trina could tell she looked very depressed.

"What's wrong? Did something happen between you and Tori?" Trina said as she walked into the door.

Jade shook her head. "Not exactly. Come up to my room and I'll explain."

So Jade told Trina the story about what Sam had seen at Nyx. The fact that she was seen making out with a woman close to 40 and left the bar with her.

Trina was beyond shocked. She stood there, looking as if someone had just punched her in the stomach.

"I'm giving up Trina. I want to thank you for your help. It's all over. I can't do it anymore. I treated her horribly and I deservedly lost." Jade said with a note of resignation.

After a few more moments of Trina standing there stunned, finally bellowed out. "I'm going to fucking kill her. If our father found out she did that, he would blow is top."

"No…No…Don't it's over. She's a big girl and she can make her own decisions. Just seeing her in that picture broke me. I can't stay here anymore."

"What? Where are you going?" Trina said as she sat down next to Jade on the bed.

"Sikowitz knows someone at the High school of the performing arts in New York. With his help, I've applied. I sent in a video of some of my work. They sent me a letter via overnight package. I got it today. They want me to come out and audition, they really liked my work." Jade said, still looking quite depressed.

Trina couldn't believe what she had heard. "Where would you stay?"

"My mom's sister lives in Manhattan. I've already cleared it. I would stay with her."

Trina jumped off the bed. "Come on Jade. Don't give up. We can do this?"

"It's over Trina. Just the thought of it depresses the shit out of me. But I have to move on."

Trina huffed. "Well first I can't just let you wallow in self-pity and depression. Second you can give up, but I'm not licked yet. We need to go out. Have some fun. Pull you out of this."

"What do you have in mind?"

"My friend Molly, her dad is a sport's promoter. By chance Molly said she had two extra tickets for the Lakers Playoff game tonight. It's down close. She tells me, the seats are literally two rows behind where Jack Nicholson always sits. We can go, have fun, get discovered by Jack Nicholson and by the end of the night all will be right."

Jade said nothing and just sighed.

"And in case, I'm not that doesn't work. I'm going to stay over and at the very least bring you out of this funk. Give me at least one night to try and talk you out of this."

"Fine, but you won't change my mind. I'm leaving."

* * *

About 2 hours after Trina left for Jade's, Tori got home from work. Someone had called in sick and she wound up working 10 hours. Her legs's ached and her back hurt. The incident at Nyx still bothered her. She knew shouldn't have gone at all. But now, she still felt very little. All her emotions were still blocked up. However, more and more she grew tired of this existence. She wasn't sure if she could break free of it.

Exhausted, she went up to her room and promptly went to sleep.

Soon she began to dream.

She found herself in a large well-furnished mansion. One of the things that caught her eye was a film award.

"Best Actress – New York Film Festival 2027 Tori Vega"

"This is my home but in the future." Tori said to herself.

She noticed other awards, both in film and in singing and felt a measure of pride that she would become successful.

As she continued to walk she heard what sounded like her own self shouting. Following the voice she walked into a large almost spotless kitchen.

Standing in the center of the kitchen was her own self, but older. Tori noticed that her older self appeared to be yelling at a female servant.

"When I say clean Kim, I mean clean. Not filthy." The older Tori bellowed.

The servant looked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry, it was only 2 Cheero's left in the sink. I must have missed them when I was cleaning up from breakfast."

"I don't fucking care, you're supposed to clean and you are obviously too fucking stupid to do the job correctly. You're fired; now get out of my sight."

Tori watched with a growing sense of horror, as the servant ran from the room crying. Suddenly the scene changed. Tori saw her older self-sitting in what appeared to be her office. Tori could see her older self, reading an article in an entertainment newspaper. With a huf the older Tori slammed down the newspaper and began to dial her phone.

Younger Tori walked around the desk and looked at the article.

"Jana Diamond Mystery Novel series to be made into a movie." The headline read. Not sure what it meant Tori read further.

"Paramount Pictures is due to announce that the Jana Diamond Mystery series is to be developed into a movie series. The book series about a young Goth girl named Jana Diamond who solves crimes has been a thunderous success. Author Jade West, is in fact due to come out with the 8th Jana Diamond Mystery novel this fall."

At this point Tori listened to older self on the phone.

"Tom you are the president of Paramount Pictures are you not?" Tori said bitterly.

"Yes, Why?"

"If you go into production of this Jana Diamond Mystery, I will never work for your studio again. Do you hear me. Now you call Jade and tell her the deal is canceled."

"But it's a good series. Don't be like this."

"I don't care if it's a good series. That film will never get made. I'm one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and you can't afford me to stop working with you or me bad mouthing your studio."

"Fine."

"Good. Goodbye Tom." Tori said as a smug smile came to her lips.

"That will fix you Jade." Tori said to herself as she hung up the phone.

The scene shifted once again to what appeared to be a dinner party of some kind. It was late in the evening and outside a thunderstorm raged outside. Tori saw her older self laughing with the guests and seemingly having a good time. At this point a small girl appeared in the doorway. She was wearing pajamas and looked very afraid. She looked to be about five.

"Mama, the storm woke me. I'm scared. Would you tuck me into bed." The little girl said to the older Tori.

Tori watched the smile on her older self fade quickly. "I have guest's, go back to bed." She snapped at the young girl.

"I'm scared of the storm." The girl whined as a tear came to her eye.

Noting the disapproving look on her guest's faces, older Tori excused her self and took the girl upstairs.

Only when older Tori was out of the room, did Tori hear the guest's talk amongst themselves.

"I'm sorry, if I didn't need her to be in my film, I would have nothing to do with this woman." A man with a British accent said.

"I second that." a well-dressed woman said. "Out in public she acts like the devoted mother, You know she's handing that little girl off to a servant, right at this very minute. That poor girl was practically raised by nannies"

Tori listened for a few moments more and it became quite apparent, that none of her supposed friends, liked her at all.

"I heard she even saw to it her sister's acting career went nowhere. Stated a rumor that the girl was a cokehead. Made sure every casting agent in Hollywood heard it." A rather thin man said.

"No wonder her last wife left her. Perhaps she'll do better with wife #5" Snapped, the wife of the British man.

The rest of the group let out a collective, but mocking laugh.

Not wanting to hear anymore, Tori went upstairs. She found her older self, yelling at one of the servants. "Put my daughter to bed and if I find her downstairs again you're fired. I can't be disturbed."

Tori then handed her now crying daughter to the servant and stormed off to go back downstairs.

Tori then found herself in a different home. It was a nice home, but it looked a bit cluttered. However it had a more homey feeling. She could see another party in progress.

It was a casual party with drinks and a number of people having a fun time. Looking on the wall Tori saw a picture of Jade sitting with a young girl that looked a lot like her.

"This is Jade's house." Tori said.

As she walked through the party, Tori saw her old friends, Cat, Beck, Andre and Robbie. They were all laughing and having a good time. From hearing bits of conversation, she gathered that Jade was celebrating the publication of her latest book.

Much like in her older self's part, a young girl wandered into the room. She walked up to Jade and said. "Mommy, I had a bad dream"

Jade smiled and picked up her little girl. "We can't have that now can't we. Let me tuck you into bed and I'll tell you a special story to keep the bad dreams away."

"What about other mommy? Can she tell a story too." The little girl said.

Jade looked across the room into the kitchen. "She's busy making in the kitchen. I'll have her stop by as soon as she's done."

Tori looked at Jade's wife, who had brown hair. The woman appeared to be standing in front of a table putting snacks on a tray. Though the brown haired woman had her back to Tori and was hunched over. Something about Jade's wife looked oddly familiar.

Tori watched as Jade picked up her daughter and spoke to her guest's. "You'll have to excuse me for a short bit. I have a few nightmares to chase away. My lovely wife of 22 years will entertain you in my absence."

The group laughed, as Jade carried her daughter too her room.

Tori felt a sadness as she watched Jade tell the little girl a story designed to comfort her. Her own older self, wanted very little to do with her child, but Jade's household seemed very loving. She missed her feelings even more. Tori began to become afraid of what she would become.

But soon Tori found herself back in her older self's home. Her older self was once again yelling at her daughter for embarrassing her in public, by refusing to wear the designer dress she wanted the little girl to wear.

As she watched her older self it became very obvious to Tori, that her older self was wildly successful, but was cold, cruel, selfish and unfeeling. Her friends and coworkers all secretly hated her. She further learned her older self, had no contact with her father, mother, sister or friends from Hollywood arts.

Finally she found herself standing in a cemetery in front of open grave. Tori could see a casket, ready to be lowered into the ground. It looked like a funeral service but only a priest and two other men were present.

"As a big as a star she was, you'd think someone else would have shown." One of the men, who was taller, said to the other.

"Her daughter didn't even come." Said the second, shorter man.

"Do you blame her? Her daughter hated her and for good reason. I didn't even want to come, but the studio wanted a representative here and I drew the short straw."

"Yeah, Me too."

A sickening feeling filled Tori's stomach as she walked towards the tombstone. Tori knew what name would be on the grave, but looked anyway.

Tori Vega. 1993-2056.

Tori woke up with a start from her strange dream. A dream of what would happen if she didn't start to feel again. Looking at the clock she could see it was only a little past 10:30 PM. The dream and its imagery were very disturbing to Tori. She just didn't know what to do.

Tori figured perhaps a bite to eat and some milk may calm her frazzled mind. She headed down to the kitchen and found some cold chicken in the fridge. She poured herself a glass of milk and decided to watch TV while she ate.

Turning on the TV she could see the local news was broadcasting a sports report. They were talking about the Basketball playoff game which had taken place earlier that evening.

"The game was an exciting one with a number of celebrities in attendance. Amongst those courtside was legendry actor Jack Nicholson." As the announcer droned on about how big of a fan he was, the camera showed a clip of the academy award winning actor sitting watching the game.

Tori was about to turn it when she happened to spot something on the news footage. It wasn't the legendry actor, but someone sitting 2 rows behind him. Tori's jaw dropped to see it was Trina. Tori could see her sister plain as day, enjoying the game with a companion which she couldn't quite see.

A second later, the camera moved a little to the left and the companion came into clear view.

Tori audibly gasped as she saw the companion. It was Jade. Like her sister, Tori could see the Goth was apparently enjoying herself. In fact they were sharing a bucket of popcorn.

Suddenly Tori remembered Trina's words from that night some two weeks ago. "I was at Jade's house, she was nice enough to paint my toenails."

Then she remembered the time at the mall, some two days later. Tori thought back to the blond with the yellow top. She realized it was Jade, wearing her own yellow top.

Finally she thought back how they happened to run into Jade at the coffee house.

Tori wanted to check one last thing, ran up into her sisters room. A quick search discovered the bag she remembered Trina carrying that night she joked about having Jade's scissors. Tori pulled open the bag and was shocked to see it was filled with scissors. On top was Jade's favorite pair, the one from The Scissoring.

It was good for Tori that no one else was at home at the time. Because the scream that emanated from Tori's mouth, could be heard all throughout the house.

5 minutes later, a furious Tori was in her car. Her destination was where she thought her sister would be.

Jade's house.

**I read an interview by someone who was a housecleaner for several wealthy couples. She had written a book on her experiences. In that interview, she said she was once fired for leaving 2 cheerio's in a sink. It seemed like a good thing to use.**

**2 chapter day, gotta love that.**

**Next chapter, the stuff's going to hit the fan. **


	31. Gold Dust Woman

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet**

**Chapter 31 – Gold Dust Woman**

**Authors Note: Lots of moment in the plot now and by the end of this chapter, things will be looking up.**

**No One's POV**

Having just gotten back from the Basketball game, Trina and Jade were sitting in Jade' s room. They both had a good time and the mood was a pleasant one.

"Sure can't talk you out of this Jade? We can keep trying."

Jade shook her head, as the smile on her face vanished. "No, it's done. I need to move on."

"Well I'll miss…" Trina started to say before the door burst open. Both girls looked to see it was a very angry looking Tori standing in the doorway.

"I KNEW IT!" Tori ranted angrily as the tension in the room suddenly rose about a 1000%.

Shocked, Trina put out her hands. "No Tori. This isn't what you think."

Tori stormed into the room to face the pair. "You two, going out behind my back. I'm not sure which is worse. My traitorous sister or you Jade, bitch queen of hell. What, are you trying to destroy another Vega?"

With that, Jade burst into tears and fled the room.

Trina had been patient with her sister, but that was the final straw. Before her sister could utter another word, Trina slapped her sister across the face as hard as she could. Tori felt the hard stinging slap and put her hand on her cheek in response. Then Trina pushed her Tori up against the wall.

"Ok listen to me SISTER! You are going to hear what I have to say. You are a total dumbshit. Not only that, but you've been an utter bitch the last few weeks. To the point that I don't even know who you are anymore. Look I know, Jade burned you. If you bothered to listen, after you left the party, Jade suffered a panic attack. She has them from time to time. She freaked out and made a horrible mistake. After she came to her senses, she felt beyond horrible about it. All she's wanted to do ever since, is to make it up to you."

"Then why are you with her?" Hissed Tori.

"Helping her, like I helped her the night of your little stunt at Karaoke Dokie. THE NIGHT YOU DROVE JADE TO TRY AND KILL HERSELF. "

Tori's eyes went wide and she started to shake. "No…No…"

Trina began to yell even louder. "What in the hell got into you? I had to chase her out of there and pull the scissors from her hands before she cut her own throat with it. She had come to me for help. That's how desperate she was to make things up. I even tested her by asking her to paint my toenails. She said she would. When I told her it was only a test, she did it anyway, just to prove how serious she was. She's heartbroken and guild ridden. Do you know she has nightmares at least 3 times a week?"

Tori began to shake even more and gasped.

"Ok, her and I have been working behind your back. But that was because, I wanted to help Jade and I wanted my old sister back. Not this cold cruel bitch that's been around lately. You've been beyond mean and I can't say how pissed I am at you for it. I understand you're hurt, but that doesn't give you the excuse to treat everyone else like shit. If you're wondering, I was here tonight to try and cheer Jade up. Do you want to know why Jade need's cheering up?"

Tori who was now trembling, squeaked. "Yes"

"She heard about your little tryst with that gal from the bar. It broke was left of her heart and she gave up. Do you know what dad would do, if he found out what you did?"

Trina walked over to the desk and picked a letter, which she shoved in Tori's face.

"This is a letter from the High school of the performing arts in New York City. It says they've gotten her application and are really looking forward to seeing her audition, as they have heard excellent things about her. She's leaving Tori and I can tell you, she isn't coming back. Ever."

Trina threw the paper to the side. First you drive her to suicide, then you drive her away. WHO IN THE FUCK ARE YOU? BECAUSE YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT TORI! MY SISTER CARED ABOUT PEOPLE AND YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT SHIT!" It was a devastating attack, with each word filled with anger and hatred.

It was that sentence that finally broke through Tori's walls.

Tori lifted her hands up as they continued to shake. A look of utter anguish instantly appeared on her face as she suddenly burst into tears. A moment later Tori her wall's now shattered, sank to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Oh…god…what have I done?" Wailed Tori, as the full realization of her actions suddenly dawned on her.

Trina watched sob for several seconds and spoke again. But much softer. "What have you done? You broke Jade. You broke what was left of her spirit. All she wanted to do was to make things up to you. Say she was sorry and beg forgiveness."

"I'm sorry….I'm sorry….I'm sorry. I was in so much pain. I didn't even know what I was doing. I…I…" Tori sobbed before she was completely overcome.

"You should have thought of that before you slept with Karla." Trina said bitterly.

"I didn't." Tori said between sobs.

"I didn't go through with it. I realized it was mistake. I told her I couldn't and went home. Honestly."

Trina could tell her sister was telling the truth. "I'm glad you made the right decision. At some point I'd tell you to apologize to Jade and date her, but frankly Tori she's too good for you". Trina said that to see if Tori was really back.

"I know I hurt her, why would she want me back?" Tori sobbed.

"You'll have to ask her, because she still does."

Tori looked at Trina with surprise. "She does?"

Trina nodded. "Yes, she does. Look, I'm sorry I had to yell at you, but I wanted my sister back. Is that you Tori?"

Tori was grief stricken and full of sorrow but she once again felt like her old self. "Yes."

Trina grabbed her sister, helped her up and wiped her tears.

"Tell me Trina, what do I do?" Tori said as tears still fell from her eyes.

"What do you want? I mean what do you truly want?"

Tori admitted it, something she wouldn't even admit to herself in the last few weeks. But it remained true none the less. "I want Jade." Tori said with a barely audible voice.

"It's not too late. I think she's in the back yard. If you two care about each other as I suspect. You can come back from this. You need to forgive her and let her forgive you. But you need to do it now. If you don't then she's going to walk out of your life forever."

Tori shook her head. "I drove her to try and kill herself. How can she possibly want me?"

"She does, now go! Let her make this up to you. She really wants to." Trina said as she pointed to the door.

"Thanks Trina." Tori said as she walked out of the room.

Tori had entered the house through the back patio which had been left unlocked. So she headed back out that way. As she emerged onto the patio, she spotted near the end of the yard a large oak tree. Hanging from a large branch was a swing.

In the dim moonlight Tori could see Jade sitting on the swing, slowly rocking back and forth. Tori felt terrible for how she had been acting. She had taken all her pain and inflicted it right back on Jade and nearly everyone else in her path. Now she could feel again, the guilt filled her up inside.

As she got closer to the swing, she could see Jade's back was to her. Tori could also her Jade softly singing to herself.

_"Did she make you cry"  
"Make you break down"  
"Shatter your illusion of Love."  
"Is it over now – Do you know how"  
"Pick up the pieces and go home"_

Jade was singing it in a very sad melancholy way. Now that she was herself again, Tori could hear the pain in each word. But a question came to Tori's mind. Was Jade singing about me or is she singing about herself?

By now Tori was only 5 feet from Jade who continued to swing slowly back and forth.

"Jade." Tori said softly.

Jade immediately stopped singing and swinging at the same time. She did not turn around or speak.

"I'm leaving." Jade said quietly. "You and Karla can…"

"I didn't sleep with her." Tori interrupted. "I changed my mind."

Jade sighed and said nothing else.

Tori opened her mouth to speak, but only a wail came out of it as she broke down in tears once again. The emotions she was now feeling was simply too much. A moment later she found herself on her knees.

This time Jade got off the swing and turned round.

"I'm sorry. Jade. I was in so much pain. It hurt so much. I wasn't myself." Tori sobbed.

Jade felt paralyzed for a moment. Tori's walls had come down but for a second, Jade simply didn't know what to do.

"Instead of standing there like a friggen statue. Why don't you help her up, you idiot!" Yelled out Trina from the patio. "You two make Cat look like a genius sometimes."

The will timed insult snapped Jade out of her paralysis. She quickly moved and helped Tori off the ground. Only when Tori got a look at Jade's face, did she realize the Goth was crying as well.

After a moment, Jade pulled Tori into her arm's and sobbed. "I'm sorry for everything I've done. Please forgive me. Please!" Jade pleaded.

Tori knew that as much as she needed to beg for Jade's forgiveness, Jade just in need of hers, if not more so. Tori just gave in and let Jade hold her. A second later she wrapped her arms around jade.

For a solid minute the pair sobbed in each other's arms. Trina meanwhile, sat in a chair on the patio and rolled her eyes. "Good Grief."

"I'll make this up to you Tori. I'm so sorry. I panicked that night. I suffer from Panic attacks on occasion. I had one. I was half out of my mind in fear. I was in denial. I made you into what you were." Jade cried.

"I shouldn't have let my emotions get bottled up. I…I…turned into an unfeeling, uncaring monster. I was horrible to you."

Jade shook her head. "No don't blame yourself. I did this. I made you into what you became.

Trina at this point walked up, causing the pair to break their embrace.

"It's nice that you two have forgiven each other. But let's face facts. Each of you has done a bang up job, of nearly destroying the other one. You both have a ways before your back to your normal and sometimes annoying selves. But here is the question of the hour. Do you want to be together?"

Before any of them could answer, Trina put up a finger. "Ah…Don't answer that. At least yet. This whole mess started as a result of a rash decision. So now that we've broken down the barriers so to speak. You both need to decide if you want to proceed together or separately. I think you can make it together, but there is much work to do, much damage to fix. Trust needs to be restored and amends need to be made. You need to do more than just say I forgive you. You need to work for this. Do you both understand?"

Both Jade and Tori nodded as they wiped their tears.

"Good, I had an idea. I want both of you to say goodnight and go to your separate ways. Tori go home and think of what you became. That and get rid of that Pink Floyd album. If I hear it coming from your room one more time, I'll shove it up your ass."

Tori bristled at the rather uncomfortable thought. "OK."

"Jade, you do the same. You go upstairs. I'll take a raincheck on that sleepover. You think of what you did. How you denied your feelings and the damage it caused. You both need to think about the other, what you've done to them and whether you truly want to be with the other. If you want to be with the other, be in the parking lot of the Pier just south of Zuma beach at 7 PM tomorrow night. If you both show, you've both decided you want to be with the other and agree to do what it takes to fix this. Then you can go on your first date. If one or both of you doesn't show. Than you just go your separate ways. Agreed?"

There was a tense moment of silence after Trina finished speaking.

"Ok." Said Jade.

"Agreed." Said Tori.

Both women could see the logic in Trina's request and wished not to make another mistake. But each wondered if the other would be there.

"Ok…Good. Say your good byes and Tori you go home. Jade. I'll grab my stuff from your room and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow at the pier. I'll be there just to get you guys started. Not that I don't trust you, it's just that you're both idiots. Good night."

With that Trina walked into the house leaving Jade and Tori alone in the back yard.

"I'll be there Jade. I promise." Tori said with a look of hope in her eyes. "I'm sorry I acted like I did."

Jade nodded. "I'll make all this up to you. I swear. Good night Tori."

Tori gave Jade a hug and said good night. She started to walk away but paused.

"Jade, I need to be honest about something. I truly didn't sleep with Karla. I'd very much like to say I didn't do it because she wasn't you or some other romantic thing like that. But you had nothing to do with it. I changed my mind, because I realized what I was doing was very stupid. I was taking a risk, just so I could feel something. In the end, it wouldn't have changed anything. But if you take comfort in the knowledge that I didn't sleep with her regardless, then I'm glad."

A smile formed on Jade's face. "I do."

Tori smiled. "Good night Jade."

Tori didn't see Trina when she went home. She guessed that Trina must have gone over to her friend Molly's. But that was good. She could lie in her bed and think things out.

Jade likewise, retired to her room and did the same.

At 7:00 Pm the next evening Trina was sitting on the hood of her car in the parking lot of the pier. She got there a bit early just in case one of them showed up early and had been there for a half an hour. She felt a growing feeling of disappointment in the fact, that neither Jade or Tori had shown up. She didn't talk to either of them that day, so they would not be influenced by her opinion.

"I was so sure they'd both show." Trina said as the she looked at her watch. It was 7:01.

She took a moment to look out over the vast ocean and let her mind wander. Then took a moment to admire some well-built men playing volleyball on the beach.

"Hi Trina." Said a familiar voice that brought Trina out of her thoughts. Trina looked behind her to see Jade walking up. She had dressed in black, but dressed nice. In her hand was bunch of flowers.

"I would have been her earlier but I thought I should get Tori some flowers. Is she here?" Jade said with an expectant smile.

Trina shook her head.

The smile on Jade's face seemed to vanish as she lowered her head.

Trina put her hand on Jade's back. "She'll be here."

Jade didn't say much as they waited. She just looked at her phone to see the time and so see if Tori had called. With every passing minute, Jade's spirits seemed to droop just a bit more.

Trina knew that Tori was big enough to make her own decisions, but was disappointed none the less.

At 7:25 Jade pulled out her phone for about the 50th time and checked it. She just shook her head and sighed.

"Are you going to leave?" Trina said.

Jade shook her head and moved to a nearby park bench. "No. I think I'll just watch the sun set. It won't set for at least an hour and a half, but I can't say I have any other place to go."

"What happens after the sun sets?"

"There's a full moon tonight. I'll think I'll watch it for a while. Maybe by then I'll think of some way I can make this all up to her. It is all my fault." Jade said, as she scanned the horizon. Jade had forgiven Tori, but she hadn't forgiven herself. She was determined to make up for everything she did wrong. But now, all she could do was wait and she planned to do just that.

It was heartbreaking to Trina. Jade thought she had been stood up, but had no intention of leaving. She would cling to hope as long as it lasted.

"Jade!" Both of them could hear a voice shout out from somewhere in the distance.

The then heard the voice which now sounded familiar. "Jade! Don't leave!"

A second later they spotted her; a frantic looking Tori, running across the parking lot. She like Jade was dressed up and looked very nice.

Tori ran up to the pair, they could both tell she was visibly upset and had been crying. "I'm so sorry I was late. My day's been terrible. Work was hell. There was an accident on the highway and that delayed me. Then I realized my phone had died and I couldn't find my charger in the car. I was so upset, so worried that you thought I wouldn't come." Tori said as she tried to catch her breath.

Tori then hurriedly pulled her phone out of her purse and held it up. "It's dead, see for yourself. I'm telling the truth Jade, please…"

Jade stepped forward as a smile formed on her face. "I believe you."

For a moment, both women looked at each other knowing full well the other wanted to be with them. Knowing they would do what it took to make things right.

It was a good feeling indeed.

**The song Jade is singing is Gold Dust Woman, by Fleetwood Mac. Lyrics used without permission. **

**Tori's walls are down and Jade has been given a 2****nd**** chance. She is also very determined to make up for everything she did wrong. **


	32. The Pier

**Disclaimer: The Show Victorious, its characters and other associated copyrights are property of someone else and not me.**

**The Bet **

**Chapter 32 – The pier**

**No One's POV**

Though she was nervous and scared about what eventually would happen, Tori was upset that she was late. She had left with plenty of time, but a 3 car pile-up on the expressway caused a minor traffic Jam. Her panic levels hit a new high when she realized her phone had died. The icing on the cake was the fact that she couldn't find her charger.

Tori was sure, that Jade would think she wasn't going to come and was in tears by the time she drove into the parking lot; 25 minutes late.

She had a bad day as she stated. Now that her emotional walls had broken down, it bothered her that no one at her worked like her. That was because she was cold and distant to all of them. But mainly her mind this previous day was what she wanted. Jade had majorly burned her, but now she understood that Jade did it out of fear and not malice. That didn't make it hurt any less, but it helped her understood.

In general, the events of the last couple of weeks seemed like a strange dream. She remembers doing the things she did, but it was like someone else was doing it. But in the hours she lay in bed thinking about it she came to two conclusions.

I still like Jade

I'll regret it if I don't give her a second chance.

So Tori decided to give Jade a second chance, even though she was weary of what would happen. She felt obligated for the reason she never let Jade apologize or explain herself. Tori also felt bad about the prank she pulled. Though Jade isn't aware of it, Tori was about to slash the tires on Jade's car one evening when someone came by while walking their dog. Not wanting to be seen, Tori ran off and decided to try again some other time. However, she never got around to it. Now Tori was glad she didn't.

After Tori got out of her car, she spotted Trina and Jade at the other end of the lot. Immediately she ran before Jade would leave. She didn't want Jade to leave.

Jade hadn't left and seemed to be patiently waiting. Tori quickly tried to show her phone but the Goth believed her. It was a relief to know that Jade had waited.

A moment later Tori felt a sudden rush of nervousness as she thought that this was their first "real" date.

Jade was in a simple but nice black dress and had obviously done her hair with broad curls. She gave a bashful smile and held out a bouquet of a dozen roses.

"This is for you." Jade said in a quiet tone of voice.

Tori loved the roses and felt a momentarily bit of embarrassment, as she recalled what she did with the last flowers Jade gave her.

"Thank you, They're so very lovely. You didn't have to." Tori said as she smelled the flowers.

"Yes I did."

"OK" Trina spoke up. "Now that you've both decided to show up. You both obviously want to give this another try. One that hopefully won't end in bloodshed."

Tori and Jade just looked at each other.

"Since you're both emotional wrecks, we'll keep it simple and set the bar rather low today. This is the Zuma beach pier. It has an arcade, several shops and a 1st rate hamburger stand. Your goal is to walk the pier, eat at the hamburger stand and not have a terrible time. Don't try to work out all your differences or issues, because you won't be able to. Just don't have a terrible time. Sound's good?"

"Do we have a choice?" Jade said, showing a tiny bit of her acid wit.

"NO!"

Both girls nodded and Trina took the roses. "I'll hold onto these, take them home and put them in water. Have fun girls. Try not to kill each other." With that Trina smiled, got in her car and drove off.

There was a strange awkward moment of silence that was broken only by the sounds of crashing waves only a few yards distant.

"Thanks for coming Tori. All I want to do is, make up for what I did. You have no idea how sorry I am." While the words were greatly appreciated, I was the manner that Jade spoke them that was so surprising. It was a very humble manner. Nowhere did Tori see the swagger of the old Jade. It was a bit unsettling.

"I was just worried you thought I had stood you up. I was so afraid you weren't going to be there."

"You could have been 3 hours late and I still would have been here." Jade said with a note of certainty.

Tori knew that Jade was obviously trying to show that she was truly sorry. Though she was afraid of getting burned, she greatly welcomed the effort.

"So are we going to start our date?" Tori asked with a smile.

Jade motioned in the direction of the pier. "Of course. Let's"

The two girls started to walk slowly out of the parking lot and up onto the large pier. It was a beautiful day and everyone else around seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"You look nice tonight Jade."

Jade blushed slightly. "Thank you. You do as well."

"I know I've said this before and I'll probably say it again, but I can't tell you how sorry I am Tori. I screwed up."

Tori nodded. "I know the basics, but what happened?"

Jade remained quiet for a moment as a visible look of pain flashed across her face. She then took a deep breath and began to speak.

"It was great up to the point you left. Then I was alone. All these questions and fears suddenly surged through me. At that moment I saw myself in the vanity mirror and what I saw scared me. I began to suffer a panic attack. I have them from time to time. I felt like I couldn't breathe, I was freaking out. I needed to get out of that house. On my way out of the door I ran into Beck. He was safe territory and it was all too easy to just pretend what happened didn't matter."

Jade paused for a moment, as a sad look came to her eyes.

"I wanted to let you down easy. But…that elevator. I could see the pain in your eyes. I'll always regret doing that too you. I was in denial. But my guilt manifested itself in other ways."

"Nightmares?" Tori asked.

Jade nodded.

"What were they about?"

"Almost always, me dying." Jade said as that look of pain on her face returned briefly.

From the tone of Jade's voice, Tori could tell that it was a subject, Jade felt uncomfortable talking about.

Tori decided to admit some of her own guilt, to possibly make Jade feel better. "I know you told Beck eventually. He tried to apologize to me. I wouldn't listen. I shouldn't have done that. I owe him an apology. He did nothing to me and didn't deserve to be treated the way I did. Cat didn't deserve the one time I snapped at her about Santa Claus."

"It looks like we both have amends to make. But your sister is determined to set us both straight."

"I saw you both on TV last night. That's how I found out. I had no idea she was helping you. I owe her an apology too."

"She was there the night at Karaoke Dokie. I had previously gone to her for help in trying to get through but she turned me down. But when you sent that text, that…she chased me and pulled the scissors out of my hand. Trina saved me." Jade said, her voice trailing off as she stopped walking. She just stood there, looking sad.

Tori, her instincts and feelings back in place, sensed that Jade needed some comfort. Pushing past her own fears and insecurities she turned and wrapped her arms around Jade. Tori noticed that Jade bristled for an instant, as if she was uncomfortable or scared. In fact Jade was very nervous about how or if she should touch Tori. She didn't want to mess things up.

"Jade, I'm scared and messed up too. But I want this to work and I know you do. We'll make it. I promise."

Jade buried her head in Tori's shoulder for a moment. "Thank you."

After a few more moments in the embrace they separated. Tori spoke first. "I think we should put talk of our problems aside for a while. I'm sure we'll have other chances to speak of it. Personally I want to have a good time. Sound good."

Jade made a partial smirk. "Good."

The pair kept walking up the pier but switched the topic to music and the atmosphere got much lighter. One of the first buildings on the pier they came to was the arcade. Jade didn't even protest when Tori dragged her in there and made a beeline for the Dance Revolution video game.

"Come on Jade. You've boasted you could dance better than me more than once. Let's see you do so."

Jade smiled and took the challenge. For almost a half an hour the pair competed against each other. Tori seemed to do vastly better. Tough she suspected Jade was letting her win, which actually was the case. Though Jade seemed to be enjoying herself, Tori couldn't help but think that Jade was not Jade. She didn't insult anyone and that acid wit she was famous for was largely absent. Jade was content to have a second chance with Tori and was determined not to blow it. She was actually having a good time.

Eventually both of them tired out and decided to move on. The next store was a souvenir shop/news stand.

"Come on Let's look?" Tori said as they came to the door.

Jade shrugged. "Ok."

They spend several minutes looking at the various gaudy t shirts and other items for sale. Tori wasn't sure if Jade wanted to be in there, but she was sure Jade wanted to be with her. Jade had been looking at some t shirt in the back when she walked over to Tori. The Latina was standing by the newsstand and engrossed in what looked like a cheap supermarket tabloid. "What on earth are you reading?"

Tori looked up. "International news weekly."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Is that one of those papers where they talk about the Bat Boy or how Elvis was actually from outerspace? Junk like that?"

"Only the best." Chimed Tori.

Jade let out a small chuckle. "So what headline does that illustrious publication have today?"

"Lesbian werewolf queen, has baby with female werewolf mate."

An incredulous look came to Jade's face. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Let me guess, they have some grainy picture of the happy couple." Tori was actually happy to hear Jade say something was stupid. She was beginning to miss the old Jade. This Jade seemed nervous and kind of timid.

Tori took a moment to study the picture, as an odd look came to her face. "Yeah and now that I look at it, they kinda look like…"

"Never mind that Tori, I'm hungry" Jade said quickly, cutting off Tori in mid-sentence.

Tori just shook her head, put the paper down and walked out of the gift shop. They walked to the hamburger stand which was situated near the end of the pier. It was little more than a shack with 2 sides open to the air with stools and a counter. A few other tables sat onto one side. As they approached, the smell and sound of the burgers sizzling on the grill greeted them. All the tables were taken, so Jade and Tori sat down at the counter.

"So I think we're doing Ok so far, what do you think Jade." Tori said, as she picked up a menu from its holder on the counter.

Jade made a smile. "I agree."

"So did you tell your parents you were…"

Jade finished Tori's sentence. "Gay, Yes I did. It was after my attempt. Your sister was there actually."

Tori furled her eyebrows for a moment as she seemed to think. "She's just everywhere isn't she. So what did they say?"

"Well Tori, I told my mom first, she was supportive. But then I told he about my suicide attempt. She was upset of course. I hadn't planned to tell your name but it slipped out. But I convinced her that this was my fault and I needed to fix this. She later said she should have been more supportive."

Tori nodded. "How did your dad take it?"

Jade shrugged in response. "About me being gay, he seemed to care less. When I told him about my attempt he seemed a bit concerned. My dad and I aren't close."

"I'm Sorry."

The person behind the counter took their order and they took a few minutes to watch the sun as it neared the horizon.

"It's going to be a beautiful sunset today." Tori remarked casually.

"It will."

"Would you like to watch it with me, after we finish eating? We can sit on that bench over there."

"I'd love that Tori."

Tori thought for a moment. "This may sound strange, but you've been calling me Tori. I'd rather you call me Vega. Everyone else call's me Tori. Only you ever called me Vega. I kind of miss it." As she finished speaking, Tori took care to look into Jade's eyes to see the reaction. For a moment they lit up in a way she hadn't lit up in a while. That made Tori feel good, it made Jade feel great.

"Got it Vega."

The burgers soon came and the pair ate while trying to avoid too heavy subjects. Tori observed that Jade genuinely appreciated the request to call her Vega, but she was mostly timid and a bit nervous. Occasionally flashes of her old self would show. When the check came, Jade snatched it before Tori could even look at it.

"I got this." Jade said with determination.

"We can go dutch if you want." Tori suggested.

"No, I got this."

Tori thought it best to argue.

With the bill paid the girls walked to a faded green bench that sat at the very end of the pier. By now the sun was just starting to sink into the sea.

"You know that when the sun is sinking into the sea, I always get this thought that it very much looks like you could get into a boat and sail to it. Like the universe, is one vast infinite ocean. Funny Isn't it."

"Not at all."

Silence quickly took hold as the pair watched the sun set. Each of course was thinking about the other. Each was dealing with their own apprehensions and fears. Both were having a good time, but neither wanted to ruin it. That was Jade's biggest fear.

Tori thought of holding Jade's hand, but thought of when she hugged Jade.

"Is she scared of me?" pondered Tori.

Tori knew Jade was desperate to prove herself, but was afraid Jade would fail.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Jade gently placed her head on Tori's shoulder. The move came as a bit of surprise, but a welcome one.

In response Tori slid her arm around Jade's back and pulled the Goth just a bit closer. After all the hell they had both been through, this moment seemed like a burst of heaven. A simple quiet moment, spent together on a bench. Neither of them wanted to ruin it by doing anything.

Tori and Jade would stay that way, neither saying a word, until after the sun had set and the first stars started to twinkle brightly in the sky.

**No Kiss yet. But we're certainly getting there. I see the situation as two people who had previously done a lot of damage to each other, desperately wanting to get past that. But each is afraid of being hurt or hurting the other. So slowly they start to come together. **

**One last thing: Did the tabloid headline sound famliar?**


End file.
